Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, was escorted out of the Pentagon on Tuesday after investigations found him to have links with the Signal group chat leak. Caldwell was put on administrative leave due to "unauthorized disclosure," an U.S. official told Reuters, adding that the investigation is still underway.
This came as it was revealed that another senior official, Darin Selnick, the deputy chief of staff at the Pentagon, was suspended as part of the broader investigation into the Signal group chat leak. A Pentagon spokesperson later confirmed to The New York Post that Caldwell has been fired from his post after taken away from Pentagon.
Tracked and Ousted
It is unclear what specific information Caldwell, a top adviser in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, allegedly leaked and who did he share the information with.
Cadwell's ouster comes just over a month after Joe Kasper, chief of staff to Hegseth, ordered the head of defense intelligence—responsible for counterintelligence, law enforcement, and security—to help in an investigation into the "unauthorized disclosures of sensitive and classified information across the Department of Defense."
"Recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications with principals within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) demand immediate and thorough investigation," Kasper wrote in a memo on March 21.
Kasper's order also mentioned that if required lie detector tests could also be used "in accordance with the applicable laws and policies" during the investigation into the source of the leak.
It is still unclear if Caldwell took a polygraph test and if he did, what the results were.
A detailed report containing all "unauthorized disclosures within the Department of Defense and recommendations to improve such efforts", is expected to be presented to Hegseth at the end of the investigation.
"I expect to be informed immediately if this effort results in information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure, and that such information will be referred to the appropriate criminal law enforcement entity for criminal prosecution," Kasper wrote.
No Clue on Caldwell's Fate
Caldwell's career now hangs in balance and it is not known if he will face any criminal charges. The investigation into the Signal group chat leak was launched by Pentagon just days before The Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg claimed that was mistakenly added to a Signal messaging thread that included senior officials from the Trump administration, including Hegseth, who were discussing military actions against the Houthi terrorist group in Yemen.
In the chat, Hegseth identified Caldwell as the most suitable staff liaison for coordinating with the White House National Security Council ahead of the March 15 attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Caldwell, a Marine Corps veteran who fought in the Iraq War, has been a vocal critic of the 2003–2011 conflict, Reuters reported.
His ouster, the outlet reported, is not linked to the recent wave of firings of top officials at the Pentagon under Hegseth's leadership. The firings included the likes of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Navy's highest-ranking admiral, the commander of U.S. Cyber Command, and senior military legal officials.
