NBC: Pentagon unable to find replacements for Hegseth’s advisers dismissed over leak
The Pentagon may have been too quick to fire former senior adviser Dan Caldwell, former deputy chief of staff Daren Selnick, and former chief of staff to Deputy Secretary of Defence Stephen Feinberg Colin Carroll amid the scandal over the leak of classified information earlier this year, the department cannot find new employees, NBC reports, citing sources.
The TV channel recalls that all three officials were fired in April in connection with the scandal over the leak of data ‘during their work at the Pentagon.’ As the channel recalls, following a New York Times article reporting that Pentagon chief Pete Hagseth had posted information about upcoming strikes on Yemen in a closed group chat on the Signal messenger app in March, the head of the department accused all three advisers of leaking classified information in an interview with Fox News.
‘After no evidence was found against the former aides and it became increasingly clear that the three men were not guilty of leaking information, administration officials began to wonder if their dismissal was premature,’ NBC quoted two former officials and one current White House official as saying.
Several unnamed officials emphasised to the television station that the Pentagon inspector general’s report on the leak of data via the Signal messenger, which is likely to be completed within a few weeks, may conclude that Hegseth shared classified information in the Signal chat.
