On April 15, the Pentagon placed two senior officials on administrative leave amid an investigation into a potential leak of classified information, Politico reports, citing three officials from the U.S. Department of Defense.
According to sources, one of the suspended officials is Dan Caldwell, senior advisor to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He was escorted out of the Pentagon by security personnel, and his access to the building was suspended pending further investigation.
Another official placed on leave is Darin Selnick, deputy chief of staff at the Pentagon. One of the sources said the investigation involves leaks related to military operational plans near the Panama Canal, the deployment of a second aircraft carrier to the Red Sea, Elon Musk’s controversial visit to the Pentagon, and the suspension of intelligence gathering on Ukraine.
The outlet notes that Caldwell is a Marine Corps veteran who served in the Iraq War. He previously worked at the right-leaning think tank Defense Priorities, where he advised on Ukraine-related issues. Selnick, earlier this year, also briefly served as acting Deputy Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.
Meanwhile, a separate controversy is unfolding around Donald Trump’s administration. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and his team reportedly created multiple chat groups on the messaging app Signal to coordinate policy discussions on issues including Ukraine, China, Gaza, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.
Earlier, on April 10, it was reported that Trump’s team had significantly restricted the number of people with access to the highly classified daily intelligence briefing prepared for the U.S. president.
