Third Pentagon official put on leave amid leak investigation

A 3rd apical Pentagon charismatic has been put connected time off amid an investigation into leaks astatine nan Department of Defense. 

The latest charismatic perchance implicated successful nan probe is Colin Carroll, nan main of unit to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, aggregate outlets reported connected Wednesday. 

Carroll’s suspension follows nan removal of Dan Caldwell, a elder advisor to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Darin Selnick, nan Pentagon chief’s lawman main of staff, from their posts connected Tuesday.  

“We tin corroborate that Mr. Carroll, Mr. Caldwell and Mr. Selnick person been placed connected administrative time off pending investigation,” a defense charismatic told The Post.

Caldwell was put connected administrative time off for “an unauthorized disclosure,” a Pentagon charismatic said Tuesday. 

Selnick had been nether investigation successful nan aforesaid leak probe that implicated Caldwell, according to reports. 

Both men were escorted retired of nan Pentagon by security.

The defense charismatic connected Wednesday would not opportunity whether Carroll’s suspension was related to nan leak probe. 

The suspensions travel little than a period aft Hegseth’s main of staff, Joe Kasper, ordered nan head of defense intelligence (counterintelligence, rule enforcement, and security) to assist successful a probe into “unauthorized disclosures of delicate and classified accusation crossed nan Department of Defense.”

“Recent unauthorized disclosures of nationalist information accusation involving delicate communications pinch principals wrong nan Office of nan Secretary of Defense (OSD) request contiguous and thorough investigation,” Kasper wrote successful nan March 21 memo.  

The directive noted that polygraph tests could beryllium administered “in accordance pinch applicable rule and policy” arsenic portion of nan hunt for nan leakers. 

It’s unclear whether immoderate of nan suspended officials were subjected to a polygraph test. 

A study including a “complete grounds of unauthorized disclosures wrong nan Department of Defense and recommendations to amended specified efforts” is expected to beryllium delivered to Hegseth astatine nan extremity of nan investigation.  

“I expect to beryllium informed instantly if this effort results successful accusation identifying a statement responsible for an unauthorized disclosure, and that specified accusation will beryllium referred to nan due criminal rule enforcement entity for criminal prosecution,” Kasper wrote. 

It’s not yet known whether immoderate of nan suspended individuals could look criminal charges. 

The leaks nether investigation see disclosures astir operational plans for nan Panama Canal, bearer movements successful nan Red Sea, Elon Musk’s sojourn to nan Pentagon past period and nan March region connected intelligence sharing pinch Ukraine, a US charismatic told Politico.