The Defense Department’s (DOD) deputy chief of staff was placed on administrative leave on Tuesday, following the steps of another Pentagon official earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
Darin Selnick, the deputy chief of staff for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has been removed, a senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News.<\/p>\n
Selnick is under investigation for the same leak probe that saw Hegseth aide Dan Caldwell escorted out of the Pentagon by security. Both Selnick and Caldwell are on administrative leave.<\/p>\n
According to the Pentagon’s website, Selnick is a retired Air Force officer who has worked extensively in veterans’ affairs organizations.<\/p>\n
‘Mr. Selnick leverages his extensive government and non-government experience advocating for veterans to position Service members for productive post-separation lives from the first day they put on a uniform,’ the biography states.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Both Selnick and Caldwell worked for Concerned Veterans for America in the past, a group formerly led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.<\/p>\n
Reuters reported that Caldwell was placed on leave for an ‘unauthorized disclosure,’ as part of an investigation into leaked Pentagon documents.<\/p>\n
The probe was announced last month, and concerned itself over ‘recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information.’ <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
‘The use of polygraphs in the execution of this investigation will be in accordance with applicable law and policy,’ DOD Chief of Staff Joe Kasper wrote in a memo<\/u> at the time. ‘This investigation will commence immediately and culminate in a report to the Secretary of Defense.’<\/p>\n
An official told Politico that the leak concerned Panama Canal plans and Elon Musk\u2019s visit to the Pentagon, among other matters.<\/p>\n
More information about the leak is unknown, and there is currently no evidence to connect Caldwell or Selnick to that leak.<\/p>\n
Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Defense Department’s (DOD) deputy chief of staff was placed on administrative leave on Tuesday, following the steps of another Pentagon official<\/p>\n