Pete Hegseth’s top advisor tells Tucker Carlson the REAL reason he was escorted out of the Pentagon

One of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s top advisors and closest friends at the Pentagon claims that he was escorted out and fired for going against the establishment’s interests. 

Dan Caldwell was one of the three Department of Defense staffers who were fired during an investigation into leaks. Deputy Chief of Staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, were also let go. Caldwell and Selnick were both personally escorted from the premises. 

The trio put out a statement last weekend saying they were ‘incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended’ and decrying ‘baseless attacks’ on their character.

Caldwell gave his first public interview to Tucker Carlson on Monday and denied leaking anything – before saying he was telling establishment Pentagon staffers things they didn’t want to hear. 

He said the investigation was ‘weaponized’ against him because he ‘threatened’ established ideas within the Pentagon’s walls.  

‘I was out there advancing things that a lot of people in the foreign policy establishment didn’t want,’ he said.

‘It doesn’t justify what’s happening to me but let’s just be honest that is the nature of the games played in D.C.’ 

He also inferred that insider in-fighting led to the firing of his colleagues Selnick and Carroll, separate from those that led to his own termination. 

Dan Caldwell (pictured) is one of three Department of Defense staffers fired amid an investigation into leaks after they were taken away from the premises

Caldwell (pictured left) gave his first public interview to Tucker Carlson (right) on Monday and denied leaking anything before saying he was telling establishment Pentagon staffers things they didn’t want to hear

He added: ‘We were threatening a lot of established interests in our own separate ways and we had people who had personal vendettas against us. And I think they weaponized the investigation against us.’ 

When asked to expound on what views Caldwell held that could have gotten him fired, he said that there is a bipartisan desire to see America go to war with Iran. 

‘I think there clearly is a very strong coalition within the United States that wants to see another war in the Middle East and it crosses both parties.’ 

Furthermore, Caldwell – who blames career staffers for leaking out sensitive information – believes that the investigation that supposedly led to his firing is a total sham.

‘There’s a lot of evidence that there is not a real investigation but again, sitting here right now, there are a lot of unknowns about this,’ he said.

Caldwell still believes that his former boss and friend is the right man for the job – but is clearly worried that there may be people not working toward his best interests.

‘But at the end of the day, putting all this aside, Pete Hegseth needs to be a successful Secretary of Defense and the entire Department of Defense, cannot be continue to be consumed by chaos.’

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Pentagon for comment. 

While the three initially had been placed on leave pending the investigation, a joint statement shared by Caldwell on X said the three were ‘incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended. 

‘Unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door.’

When asked to expound on what views Caldwell (pictured far right) held that could have gotten him fired, he said that there is a bipartisan desire to see America go to war with Iran

Caldwell (pictured right) still believes that his former boss and friend Hegseth (pictured left) is the right man for the job but is clearly worried that there may be people not working toward his best interests

‘At this time, we still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there was even a real investigation of `leaks´ to begin with,’ the post said.

Former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot also announced he was resigning this week. The Pentagon said, however, that Ullyot was asked to resign.

Caldwell, a veteran of the Iraq War and the United States Marine Corps, played a critical role as an adviser to Hegseth. 

He was the staff member designated as Hegseth’s point person in the Signal messaging chat that top Trump administration national security officials, including the defense secretary, used to convey plans for a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen.

The chat, set up by national security adviser Michael Waltz, included a number of Cabinet members and came to light because Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was accidentally added to the group.

Caldwell and Hegseth have a longtime friendship, going back to Hegseth’s time as the head of Concerned Veterans for America, a nonprofit. Caldwell worked at CVA beginning in 2013 as policy director and later as executive director. 

Additionally, Caldwell was by Hegseth’s side on Capitol Hill as the former Fox News host fought to keep his nomination alive during questions about his treatment of women. 

Selnick also performed the duties of the under secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness. He served in the White House and the Department of Veterans Affairs in the first Trump administration. 

The news comes days after Defense aides Caldwell and Darin Selnick (pictured) were terminated after allegedly being identified during the leak investigation

Joe Kasper (pictured), Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense, is also rumored to be on his way out

And he also has ties to Concerned Veterans for America, where he served as a senior adviser.

Carroll, a former Marine Corps intelligence officer with deep AI expertise, served in Afghanistan. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy.

Ahead of his tenure at the Pentagon, Carroll worked at Anduril, a defense contractor that specializes in autonomous systems.

And 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. 

A spokesman for the Pentagon told DailyMail.com the three top staffers had been terminated Friday night.

Hegseth’s Chief of Staff Joe Kasper is also set to resign in the coming days, Politico reported.

A senior defense official told DailyMail.com of Kasper and the other three: ‘At this time no final senior staffing changes have been decided, and the Secretary will make any future announcements on his own timetable.’ 

Kasper’s departure would be especially curious, as he put in the request for an investigation into multiple leaks out of the Pentagon last month.  

Hegseth (pictured) was all smiles and on the defense at the White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday

Donald Trump (pictured left) and Melania (pictured right) were in attendance as well and the president defended his Secretary of Defense

‘Joe didn’t like those guys,’ an anonymous source said of Kasper’s relationship with Caldwell, Selnick and Carroll. 

‘They all have different styles. They just didn’t get along. It was a personality clash.’ 

The departures now leave a huge void of several key roles in Hegseth’s Defense Department. 

‘There is a complete meltdown in the building, and this is really reflecting on the secretary’s leadership,’ a former defense official said. 

‘Pete Hegseth has surrounded himself with some people who don’t have his interests at heart.’ 

President Donald Trump has railed against those with loose lips, particularly when it comes to leaking information about his administration. He has ordered them to be found.

Caldwell and Selnick were put on administrative leave and escorted out of the Pentagon by security last week. 

Carroll was suspended a day after two other political appointees were shown the door, Politico reported.

The White House – including President Trump (pictured right) – expressed support Monday for Hegseth following media reports that he shared sensitive military details in another Signal messaging chat, this time with his wife and brother 

The internal Pentagon investigation is looking into allegations of unauthorized disclosures of information.

‘This is a purge of people who had disagreements with the Pentagon chief of staff,’ a defense source told CNN.

The leak investigation at the Pentagon began on March 21 when Hegseth’s chief of staff Kasper ordered the probe.

The probe included military operational plans for the Panama canal, a second carrier headed to the Red Sea, the pausing the collection of intelligence to Ukraine, and the leak that Elon Musk’s would meet with Hegseth about the U.S. war plans for China, an official told Politico.

Kasper said the probe would examine ‘recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information’ and said polygraphs would be used.

‘The use of polygraphs in the execution of this investigation will be in accordance with applicable law and policy,’ he wrote. ‘This investigation will commence immediately and culminate in a report to the Secretary of Defense.’

He noted that ‘information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure’ would be referred for criminal prosecution.’

The upheaval comes less than 100 days into the Trump administration where the Pentagon has found itself frequently in the epicenter of controversial moves – from firings of senior military and civilian staff to broad edicts to purge content that promoted diversity, equity or inclusion. 

That led to images or other online content of heroes like the Tuskegee Airmen and Jackie Robinson being temporarily removed from the military’s websites, causing public uproar. 

The White House expressed support Monday for Hegseth following media reports that he shared sensitive military details in another Signal messaging chat, this time with his wife and brother.

Neither the White House nor Hegseth denied that he had shared such information in a second chat, instead focusing their responses on what they called the disgruntled workers whom they blamed for leaking to the media and insisting that no classified information had been disclosed.

‘It´s just fake news. They just bring up stories,’ President Donald Trump told reporters. 

‘I guess it sounds like disgruntled employees. You know, he was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people, and that´s what he´s doing. So you don´t always have friends when you do that,’ Trump said.

The administration’s posture was meant to hold the line against Democratic demands for Hegseth´s firing at a time when the Pentagon is engulfed in turmoil, including the departures of several senior aides and an internal investigation over information leaks.

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