Two senior Pentagon officials—Dan Caldwell, a key adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Darin Selnick, the deputy chief of staff—were abruptly placed on administrative leave and escorted from the Pentagon this week amid a widening investigation into unauthorized leaks of sensitive information.
Caldwell, a Marine Corps veteran and former leader at Defense Priorities and Concerned Veterans for America, was known as Hegseth’s trusted policy hand. Selnick, another Trump administration veteran, previously held senior roles at the Department of Veterans Affairs and the White House. Both men’s security credentials were suspended pending the outcome of the probe.
The investigation, ordered by Hegseth’s chief of staff, centers on a series of leaks that reportedly include military operational plans for the Panama Canal, deployment details for U.S. forces in the Red Sea, a pause in intelligence-sharing with Ukraine, and even a controversial visit to the Pentagon by Elon Musk. A now-infamous Signal group chat—dubbed “SignalGate”—accidentally included a journalist and revealed real-time discussions about U.S. military strikes in Yemen, with Caldwell named as the Pentagon’s primary contact.
The Pentagon has not disclosed whether Caldwell or Selnick will face criminal charges, but the incident has raised urgent questions about operational security and the use of encrypted messaging for sensitive military coordination. The investigation is ongoing, with the Trump administration signaling a broader crackdown on leaks at the highest levels of defense leadership.
