Former Pentagon Officials Speak Out After Being Placed on Leave Amid Leak Investigation

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The trio said in a statement posted by Dan Caldwell they still don’t understand why they were on vacation.

The trio of former Pentagon employees spoke on April 19 after taking leave this week in connection with an ongoing investigation into leaks within the Department of Defense.

This week, Department of Defense officials confirmed that Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll and Darrin Sernick were all taking administrative leave during an ongoing leak investigation.

Joining social media platform X on Saturday, Caldwell posted what he described as a joint statement between himself, Carol and Sernick, who are working on a recent shakeup.

“We are extremely disappointed with the way services at the Department of Defense have ended,” the statement began.

Until this week, Caldwell served as an advisor to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses. Sernick was recently listed as Hegses’ vice-chief of staff. Carroll served as Chief of Staff to Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg.

“An unknown Pentagon official slandered our character with an unfounded attack on his way out the door,” Caldwell’s post continued. “All three of us were honored to our country, including the development of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And based on our collective services, we understood the importance of information security and worked to protect it every day.”

Caldwell is a Marine Corps veteran and recently worked in the National Security Think Tank defense priority. Carroll is also a Marine who served as Intelligence agent. Selnick is a retired Air Force officer.

The pentagon does not provide details on why the three men were removed from their posts.

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“At this point, we are not yet informed that if there is still an active investigation or if there is even an actual investigation of the ‘leak’, we have not yet been properly investigated,” Caldwell’s social media post added.

The Social Media Post says all three men continue to support President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and the administration’s efforts to “make the Pentagon great again and achieve peace through power.”

“We hope to support these efforts in various capabilities in the future,” the statement concludes.

Caldwell appears to have been tangentially involved in another leak episode last month.

In March, Hegseth listed Caldwell as his preferred contact in text from a signal group where several high-level US security authorities discussed plans to attack Yemen. White House national security adviser Mike Waltz mistakenly added Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the chat, accepting responsibility for giving journalists predictable sets for the March 15 airstrike.
On April 3, Pentagon’s representative inspector Stephen A. Stebbins announced that his office would consider using Hegses’ signal messaging app on the leak episode and determine whether the Secretary of Defense has followed appropriate procedures to protect sensitive national security information.
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