A senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been placed on administrative leave and escorted out of the Pentagon as investigators probe a possible leak of classified military information.
Dan Caldwell, a Marine Corps veteran and former policy executive, had been a key figure in coordinating U.S. operations, including recent strikes in the Middle East. His removal comes amid heightened scrutiny over how sensitive information is shared within the Department of Defense.
The investigation follows the discovery of a leak involving encrypted messaging apps, where internal communications about military strategy were reportedly exposed to unauthorized individuals. One incident involved a private chat thread that mistakenly included a journalist, raising serious concerns about operational security.
In response, the Pentagon has launched an aggressive effort to clamp down on internal leaks, authorizing polygraph tests and signaling possible legal action for any breaches of protocol. Caldwell’s departure is the most high-profile development to emerge so far.
Officials have not confirmed whether any criminal charges will be filed, but the probe underscores growing tensions inside the Pentagon over how information is handled—and who can be trusted to protect it.