Top Hegseth Aide Escorted Out of Pentagon in Leak Probe
A senior advisor to Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was escorted out of the Pentagon and placed on administrative leave, according to a Defense Department official.
Dan Caldwell was suspended over an “unauthorized disclosure” of information amid an ongoing investigation into leaks from within the Pentagon.
Caldwell, a foreign policy realist, previously worked with the restraint-oriented think tank Defense Priorities and Concerned Veterans for America, which was formerly led by Hegseth.
He has been a vocal advocate for significantly reducing the U.S. military presence in Europe and withdrawing troops from Iraq and Syria.
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The Pentagon recently announced an effort to identify leakers from within the Defense Department regarding “recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information.”
The announcement said that the DoD would use polygraph exams to identify who was allegedly leaking sensitive or secret data.
“The use of polygraphs in the execution of this investigation will be in accordance with applicable law and policy,” DOD Chief of Staff Joe Kasper wrote in a memo. “This investigation will commence immediately and culminate in a report to the Secretary of Defense.”
“The report will include a complete record of unauthorized disclosures within the Department of Defense and recommendations to improve such efforts,” the memo said.
The memo also noted that “information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure” would be referred for criminal prosecution.
Caldwell’s close ties to Hegseth were highlighted in a leaked Signal chat about U.S. strikes on the Houthis, in which Hegseth identified him as the Pentagon’s point of contact for the operation.
The private conversation was exposed after National Security Advisor Mike Waltz accidentally added The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the group.
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This leak is separate from the one involving someone leaking classified U.S. intelligence about the bombs dropped on Iran.
Days of vehement opposition to reporting by CNN and the New York Times suggest that Trump is angrier than normal about the leak of a study claiming that a dozen 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs achieved nothing to halt Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.
Trump has pointed fingers at members of Congress and claimed that the White House will no longer provide as frequent briefings on military operations.
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force General Dan Caine are having a press conference at the Pentagon. I’ll bring you any news updates here.
General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that on Monday morning, they received “indications and warnings that Iran intended to attack US bases in the region” and evacuated the majority of their people.
“I want to read some of the assessment and assessments provided. Whether fake news, CNN, MSNBC or New York Times, there has been fawning coverage of preliminary assessment. I have not had a chance to read it, every outlet reported on preliminary assessment from DIA. I’m looking at it right now, preliminary, day and a half after the actual strike, it admits it requires 82s weeks to aaccumulate necessary data, it is preliminary,” Hegseth said.
“It points out it is not coordinated with the intelligence community at all, there is low-confidence in this report, its there are gaps in information and says multiple linchpin assumptions are what this is, that means your entire premise is predicateod a linchpin. If you are wrong, everything else is wrong. This report acknowledges likely severe damage. Leaked because someone had agenda to muddy water and make it look like this historic strike wasn’t successful. Get to the chairman in a moment, he will layout the particulars for you based on his professional military experience,” Hegseth added
Trump Lashes Out At Cornyn For Holding Up AG Confirmation
A number of establishment Republicans were defeated in their primaries earlier this year, losing to candidates backed by President Donald Trump.
And now that their days in Congress are numbered, they appear to be taking their wrath out on the president.
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Trump said Friday that Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is delaying the confirmation of Todd Blanche as attorney general because of Trump’s endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s Republican U.S. Senate primary.
Cornyn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee whose support is considered important to advancing Blanche’s nomination, has declined to back the nomination until he receives written assurances from the Justice Department that a disputed fund will be rescinded and that the scope of an IRS audit immunity provision included in a settlement agreement will be narrowed, according to ABC News.
Speaking during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday, Trump accused Cornyn of using Blanche’s nomination as leverage in retaliation for the president’s endorsement of Paxton during the closely watched Senate primary.
“Todd Blanche is a very, very good man, and he shouldn’t be in the middle of this. He should get approved because you will never get anybody like him,” Trump told reporters.
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“You’re never going to get anybody. And to make him a pawn on this whole thing,” Trump went on.
“This is being done by a senator. And I don’t really blame him, to be honest with you,” Trump continued.
“I endorsed his opponent, and as soon as I endorsed his opponent, his opponent went through the roof, and he won the primary election in Texas for the Senate,” he added.
Trump added that Cornyn, who has served in the Senate for over two decades, “became very angry” after his defeat.
The president went on to point out that Cornyn didn’t oppose Blanche earlier this year when he named him to replace outgoing AG Pam Bondi, but that his opposition only began after Trump endorsed Paxton.
“Don’t forget, Senator Cornyn thought he was phenomenal until he lost… I mean, he thought this was the most incredible person,” he said.
Trump also said the fund would be for “people that have been weaponized” and that he does not “want anything.”
“There’s essentially never been a group of people treated so badly as these people, and this fund, this fund was not for me,” he said.
“This fund was for those people that have been weaponized, that have been abused,” he added.
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What began as an effort to resolve claims over the disclosure of confidential tax records has instead evolved into a broader confrontation over the limits of executive authority and the role of the federal courts.
The administration on Friday appealed a federal judge’s decision rejecting a proposed settlement in Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service stemming from the unauthorized disclosure of his tax returns.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams of Florida, an Obama appointee, rejected the proposed resolution and issued a sharply critical opinion questioning both the purpose of the lawsuit and the structure of the settlement agreement.
Trump filed the lawsuit after former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn admitted to illegally leaking the former president’s tax information and later pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related to the disclosure.
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Earlier this year, the Department of Justice and the IRS reached a proposed settlement intended to resolve the litigation, including an agreement establishing what was described as an anti-weaponization fund for Jan. 6 defendants persecuted by the Biden administration
The fund was later terminated.
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