Two longtime associates of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, appointed to senior roles at the Department of Defense at the outset of President Donald Trump’s second term, were escorted from the Pentagon on Wednesday amid an escalating investigation into leaked intelligence that reportedly included classified information.

Deputy Chief of Staff Darin Selnick and Dan Caldwell, a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense, both previously worked at Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), where Hegseth served as CEO from 2012 to 2016.

“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 and pausing the collection of intelligence to Ukraine,” Politico reported.

But Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin reported that the leaked intel investigation was launched “on March 21 after a March 20 New York Times story detailed plans to allow Elon Musk to attend a briefing in the ‘Tank’ with members of the Joint Chiefs to hear about future China war plans.”

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According to Axios, news of the planned secret Musk-China briefing angered President Trump.

“Musk or Hegseth didn’t just decide to call off that briefing after the leak. President Trump himself ordered staffers to kill it,” the news outlet reported.

“What the f— is Elon doing there? Make sure he doesn’t go,” Trump said, Axios reported, citing a top official.

Caldwell was “being investigated for ‘unauthorized disclosure’ of classified information,” according to Griffin’s reporting.

Selnick, who was installed at the Pentagon on January 20, was recently promoted after serving as the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. He worked at CVA from 2013 to 2017, and again from 2019 to 2024, according to his LinkedIn page and his Pentagon biography. He also served in the first Trump administration and the George W. Bush administration.

Caldwell had served at CVA, first as policy director starting in 2013, and later as executive director, according to the Associated Press.

Caldwell “was the staff member designated as Hegseth’s point person in the Signal messaging chat that top Trump administration national security officials, including Hegseth, used to convey plans for a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen,” the AP added. “The chat, set up by national security adviser Michael Waltz, included a number of top Cabinet members and came to light because Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, was added to the group.”

READ MORE: Marjorie Taylor Greene to Constituents: ‘Sit and Listen’ at Town Hall or Be ‘Thrown Out’

ABC News’ Martha Raddatz described (video below) Caldwell as “so close to Hegseth [that] the Secretary made him the point of contact with the White House for strikes on the Houthis in Yemen during that Signal chat last month.”

Critics weighed in.

Former Republican and former federal prosecutor Ron Filipkowski, the editor-in-chief of the MeidasTouch Network, alleged that Caldwell is “going to be fired because he outed the fact that Musk arranged with Hegseth to get a top secret briefing at the Pentagon. Trump and his Chief of Staff didn’t even know about it.”

Veteran and veterans’ activist Paul Rieckhoff observed, “This CVA network, where they were/are in place, and what’s happened to them today should be a much bigger story.”

He pointed to a previous post where he had written: “Maybe overdue accountability is finally starting after SignalGate. Dan Caldwell is well-known in Washington as the former head of Hegseth’s former partisan political group, Concerned Veterans of America.”

“They are not just radical,” he added. “They are sloppy and incompetent. That puts our national security at risk. And has our enemies celebrating.”

Watch video from ABC News below or at this link:

Dan Caldwell, a top adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Darin Selnick, Hegseth’s deputy chief of staff, have both been placed on administrative leave as part of a leak investigation. @martharaddatz reports. pic.twitter.com/qVu3QEkzET

— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 16, 2025

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A top advisor to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reportedly was escorted out of the Pentagon after being identified in a leak investigation into an “unauthorized disclosure.”

Reuters, which exclusively reported the development, named the advisor as Dan Caldwell and stated that he has been placed on administrative leave.

Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin added that Caldwell is being “investigated for ‘unauthorized disclosure’ of classified information.”

Reuters noted that a “March 21 memo signed by Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, requested an investigation into ‘recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications.'”

READ MORE: Marjorie Taylor Greene to Constituents: ‘Sit and Listen’ at Town Hall or Be ‘Thrown Out’

“Kasper’s memo left open the possibility of a polygraph, although it was unclear if Caldwell was subjected to one.”

Meanwhile, Military.com’s Pentagon reporter Konstantin Toropin provides more context.

“Caldwell was a low key but vital official,” he wrote, noting that Secretary Hegseth “said he was the best point of contact for the National Security Council in the Signalgate chat regarding the strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.”

Experts are weighing in.

“Maybe overdue accountability is finally starting after SignalGate. Dan Caldwell is well-known in Washington as the former head of Hegseth’s former partisan political group, Concerned Veterans of America,” wrote Paul Rieckhoff, a veteran and veterans’ activist. “He also has loved to troll me on this platform over the years. A lapse of discipline or judgement would not be surprising. They are not just radical. They are sloppy and incompetent. That puts our national security at risk. And has our enemies celebrating.”

“This is a big deal,” adds Eric Bianco, Reuters National security correspondent focusing on intelligence. “Caldwell was integral to the Pentagon/admin’s Ukraine policy, especially when it came to discussions around continued military support for Kyiv.”

Developing…

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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has declared her Tuesday night town hall is for constituents only, who must submit questions only in advance, must sign up, and then “sit and listen.” The Georgia Republican declared protesters, whom she alleged would only be “paid” Democrats, will be ejected.

In a social media video, Congresswoman Greene stated, “this is a town hall that’s strictly for constituents. That means you have to live in my district, and you had to sign up on the sign up link. That’s important. Make sure you bring your ID, as we will be verifying that you actually live in the district and have signed up to be in the town hall.”

Greene, under scrutiny over recent stock purchases she allegedly made, is holding the town hall in a county Vice President Kamala Harris carried in November by 15 percentage points, according to Fox News. The GOP Congresswoman established additional rules, namely, no protesting—despite First Amendment protections.

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“Also, this is important for everyone attending the town hall,” she said. “You need to understand this is not a place to protest. This isn’t a place to stand up and scream and yell. This is a place to sit and listen, and we have your questions if you signed up.”

Then she served up “one word of warning for you: If you’re planning to act up scream and protest, you’re going to be thrown out. And that’s the way it goes. We know how the Democrat Party is organizing and funding these protests for Republican town halls, all across America. And I’m just going to tell you, I don’t tolerate it.”

“America voted for President Trump, they voted for Republicans to be in charge of Congress and the Senate, and they voted to put America first, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” she concluded

Speaking to Fox News, Greene added she expects her constituents to “behave well. And we expect them to be, you know, respectful.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

I’m so excited for my Town Hall in Cobb County tonight!

To my constituents who have registered and are planning to attend this evening, regardless of your political party, I’m excited to see you and answer your questions.

To the paid Democrat protestors planning to show up from… pic.twitter.com/aT6GGV3bpY

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) April 15, 2025

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