Pentagon adviser Dan Caldwell escorted out, sent on leave for ‘unauthorized disclosure’
Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to US defense secretary Pete Hegseth, has been put on administrative leave for an “unauthorized disclosure,” after being identified during an investigation into leaks at the Department of Defense, news agency Reuters has reported.
A US official said that Caldwell was “escorted” from the Pentagon, the department’s Washington-based headquarters.
“The investigation remains ongoing,” the official further said without providing details about the nature of the disclosure.
According to a March 21 memo signed by Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, the leaks contained “national security information involving sensitive communications.”
The memo also left open the possibility of a polygraph. However, it was unclear if the test was performed on Caldwell.
Also, the decision to send him on administrative leave is separate from a series of firings in the Department of Defense since Hegseth, a former Fox News host and a combat veteran, took over the Pentagon in January, succeeding Lloyd Austin, who served in the same capacity under US President Donald Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden.
Who is Dan Caldwell?
Although not as well known as other senior Pentagon officials, Caldwell has played a critical role as an adviser to Hegseth.
In the recent “Signalgate” fiasco, he was named by his boss 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, in March.
A Marine Corps veteran who once served in Iraq, he told the Financial Times in December 2024 that Iraq War was a “monstrous crime.”
