First on FOX: With a bitter internal feud pentagon This week, members of Defense Secretary Pete Hegses’ inner circle were released from their duties, and spilled into the public this week.
Three top assistants Heggs This week, the Pentagon was on vacation this week to probe for fraudulent leaks and was escorted from the building. Senior Advisors Dan Caldwell Deputy Chief of Staff Darryn Selnick and Colin Carroll are Chief of Staff to Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg.
Another press, John Ulittt, parted ways with the Pentagon because he didn’t want to be the assistant commander of the telecom shop.
However, Fox News Digital learned from multiple defense officials that three employees were accused of leaking, that they had not read their rights and were not given guidance on who they could or could not speak to. They were also not asked to hand over the phone as part of the leak probe.
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This week, a fierce feud between Defense Secretary Pete Hegses was opened to the public. (Franco Brana/AFP via Getty Images)
At least one former employee has consulted with a legal counsel, but none have been fired, and everything is awaiting the results of the investigation.
“Being placed on paid leave is not considered a disciplinary decision. It is seen as a preliminary step to conducting an investigation, so if you think they are staying on a railroad or a hose, when there is a formal decision, they will have an opportunity for a legitimate process.”
“They are humiliated in the media to some extent. But this happens every day in the federal government. In general, what has happened so far is not necessarily considered discipline. It is seen as a step in security protocols to suspend their approval and suspend access to emails, allowing them to conduct a complete, thorough, independent investigation.”
Officials denied that the three men were taken on leave due to foreign policy views and said their position on Iran and Israel is unrelated – despite reports surfaced that President Donald Trump told Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu If Israel attacked Iran, the pentagon would not intervene.
Pentagon officials Dan Caldwell, left, Darrin Selnick are being investigated in the investigation. (US Veterans | Department of Defense)
Selnick focused on operational, management and HR issues. Carroll was primarily focused on acquisitions. And Caldwell advised mainly on the European portfolio.
However, in the fact that Hegseth’s Chief of Staff Joe Casper had a “deep revenge” against them, the trio came together, according to a single defense official with knowledge of the situation. In late March, Kasper issued a memo instructing the pentagon to investigate fraudulent disclosures to reporters and proceed to use Lie detector tests when necessary.
The three raised concerns with Hegus about Casper’s leadership, and Casper believed he was about to fire him, according to one official.
Those tensions have been boiled down to “a screaming match at the front office,” officials said.
Another Pentagon official argued that the accusation that the termination had anything to do with anything other than an unauthorized leak investigation was “false.”
“This is not about interpersonal conflicts,” the authorities said. “There is evidence of leakage. This concerns unauthorized disclosures that contain sensitive information.”
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Colin Carroll is Chief of Defense Secretary Steven Feinberg’s Chief of Staff and will take photos on February 7th during major leader engagement at Camp HM Smith in Hawaii. (Moses S. Lopez Franco/US Marines)
The three aides are private political appointees, and regardless of the investigation, they could be fired on will. However, if they found out they were engaged in fraudulent leaks, they were able to separate their security clearance.
“There is little protection when it comes to political appointees and career civilian staff,” said Libby Jamison, a lawyer specializing in military law. “For appointees, there is very wide discretion to be taken or reassigned to administrative leave.”
If an employee is accused of leakage, the report will be sent to the defense information system for security and there will then be an independent review of eligibility for access to confidential information.
“They will potentially have the opportunity to maintain their clearance and show that they did not violate security clearance protocols in terms of processing sensitive information,” Timmons said. “If it is discovered, they are leaking information in violation of the rules and then there are guidelines violations for personal misconduct and violations of confidential information. So they could likely be criminally charged and end of employment with certainty, and their clearance could be stripped and rebelled.”
Alternatively, if independent officers cannot find enough evidence to tie them together in leaks, they can return to their position and maintain clearance.
Meanwhile, Urit said he made it clear from the start that he “has no interest in anyone in public service number 2.”
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Ullyot ran the Public Relations Bureau based on acting at the start of the administration, yank workspaces for legacy media outlets and led memos that reassigned them to conservative networks. Ullyot also received the JAB to former chairman of Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley, saying his “corpse” was a bad example of Pentagon fitness standards.
However, as his temporary major role ended and Sean Parnell took the job of the Pentagon chief spokesman, Uriott said he and Hegstes could not come to another perfect agreement that would fit me in DOD.
Ullyot said he was one of Hegseth’s “most powerful supporters.”
