Third Top Pentagon Official Suspended In Leak Investigation

The Pentagon put a third top official on administrative leave Wednesday as part of a wide-ranging leak investigation, according to a defense official and a person familiar with the matter.

Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, was suspended a day after two other political appointees were placed on leave following a probe into potential leaks of sensitive information.

The leaks under investigation include military operational plans for the Panama Canal, a second carrier headed to the Red Sea, Elon Musk’s controversial visit to the Pentagon to discuss China and a pause in the collection of intelligence for Ukraine, according to the official.

Carroll and the Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Carroll, a Marine Corps Reserve officer, recently worked at Anduril, a defense contractor that specializes in autonomous systems. POLITICO has reported that he was fired by the Biden administration for creating a hostile environment while chief operating officer of the Pentagon’s former Joint Artificial Intelligence Center.

Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Darin Selnick, the Defense Department’s deputy chief of staff, were escorted out of the Pentagon by security officers and had their building access suspended pending further investigation, the official said. Caldwell and Selnick both previously worked at Concerned Veterans for America, the nonprofit that Hegseth once led.

The incidents added fuel to Democrats' calls for Hegseth to resign. Many demanded the Pentagon chief step down after he shared sensitive details in a Signal chat with top officials about U.S. military strikes in Yemen.

“This is now the second major breach of classified information by the most senior political appointees in [Hegseth’s] two months of leadership at DOD,” Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.) wrote in a post on X. “He should never have been appointed based on merit alone, but now he is a national security threat. Hegseth must resign.”