The week of turmoil in the Pentagon’s inner circle continued Friday, with the termination of two political appointees who had been suspended earlier this week, according to multiple officials.
Joe Kasper, the chief of staff to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, ordered an investigation into unauthorized disclosures in March. His memo stated that the investigation would seek “a complete record” of leaks and may use polygraph tests if necessary.
The two officials who have been fired are Hegseth’s senior advisor Dan Caldwell and deputy chief of staff Dan Selnick, according to the sources. CBS News reported that both were placed on administrative leave earlier this week pending the leak investigation. Politico was the first to report the termination.
A third official, Colin Carroll, the chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense, was placed on administrative leave this week as part of the investigation.
Caldwell, Selnick, and Carroll said in a joint statement posted on X on Saturday that they were “incredibly disappointed” with how their service with the department ended and that the experience was unconscionable.
“On our way out the door, unnamed Pentagon officials slandered our character with baseless attacks. All three of us served our country honorably in uniform, with two of us deploying to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, based on our collective service, we recognize the importance of information security and work every day to safeguard it,” the statement read.
“At this time, we still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there was even a real investigation of ‘leaks’ to begin with,” according to them.
Kasper is also being investigated, according to two sources.
On Saturday, a senior Defense official told CBS News that “at this time, no final senior staffing changes have been decided, and the secretary will make any future announcements on his own timetable.”
Officials have told CBS News that there are plans to suspend more officials in what appears to be a widespread investigation into leaks to news outlets.
Kasper’s memo was released on the same day that the Pentagon denied billionaire Elon Musk’s request for a classified briefing on China’s war plans, but officials say the investigation is looking into more than one story.