An advisor to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was put on leave for leaking.
Dan Caldwell was escorted out of the Pentagon on Tuesday for “an unauthorized disclosure,” according to Reuters.
Details of the unauthorized disclosure are unclear.
According to Reuters, this comes after a March 21 memo ordering a Pentagon investigation into leaks ordered by Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff.
Reuters reported:
One of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s top advisors, Dan Caldwell, was escorted out of the Pentagon on Tuesday after being identified during an investigation into leaks at the Department of Defense, a U.S. official told Reuters.
Caldwell, a senior advisor to Pete Hegseth, was placed on administrative leave for “an unauthorized disclosure,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The decision has not been previously reported.
“The investigation remains ongoing,” the official said.
More from CNBC:
A March 21 memo signed by Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, requested an investigation into “recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications.”
Kasper’s memo left open the possibility of a polygraph, although it was unclear if Caldwell was subject to one.
Although Caldwell is not as well known as other senior Pentagon officials, he has played a critical role as an adviser to Hegseth.
His importance was underscored in a leaked text chain on Signal disclosed by The Atlantic magazine last month.
In it, Hegseth named Caldwell as the best staff point of contact for the National Security Council as it prepared for the launch of strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.
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