Top Hegseth adviser placed on leave amid Pentagon intelligence leak probe

A top adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was placed on administrative leave Tuesday after being identified in a Pentagon investigation into intelligence leaks, two U.S. defense officials confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Dan Caldwell, who served as a senior advisor to Hegseth, was reportedly a target of an investigation into an “unauthorized disclosure,” one defense official confirmed to the DCNF. Both officials declined to provide further details, as the investigation is ongoing.

Before his Pentagon posting, Caldwell served as both the director of policy and executive director for Concerned Veterans For America, which Hegseth headed before ascending to his current position.

The Pentagon announced in March a probe into unauthorized disclosures of sensitive information, although it remains unclear if Caldwell was a target of the particular investigation.

The Department of Defense Inspector General’s office (DoDIG) is also investigating Hegseth’s involvement in a leaked Signal group chat discussing plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen. The investigation was requested by the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The Pentagon leak investigation started in March, which would subject persons of interest to potential polygraph tests, according to the Associated Press. The tests are frequently used to vet individuals for security clearances in defense roles.

Other leaked defense documents surfaced online in March 2023, when Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira leaked hundreds of classified documents on a private Discord server. Teixeira was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in April.

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