Pete Hegseth's paranoia is undermining the Pentagon

[marmar]

Pete Hegseth’s paranoia is undermining the Pentagon
The leaking has turned into a flood

By Jesselyn Radack
Contributing Writer
Published April 23, 2025 8:48AM (EDT)


(Salon) Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon is hemorrhaging senior officials faster than the Justice Department’s resignation tsunami last month, when seven federal prosecutors quit over the acting Deputy Attorney General’s quid pro quo scheme to dismiss corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams in exchange for his cooperation with the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. So if you’re having trouble following the leak labyrinth at home, you’re not alone.

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This uncertainty stemming from why the three high-level Defense Department political appointees were put on leave and then fired prompted chatter that they were being unfairly targeted or treated as sacrificial lambs for others in Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s office. Like the Justice Department mass resignations in early March, the ousted Defense Department trio did not go quietly. Former senior advisor Dan Caldwell, former deputy chief-of-staff Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, the deputy Defense secretary’s former chief of staff issued a joint statement on X (an unconventional medium for such things, but one that Trump and Musk were sure to see):

“unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door . . . we understand the importance of information security and worked every day to protect it. 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.”

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As someone who was criminally investigated for leaking, and now defends current and former national security whistleblowers in leak investigations, all of this is highly irregular. Average leak investigations by Offices of Inspectors General take from 90 days to a couple of years. Agents typically interview witnesses as well as the subject or target. Sometimes these interviews are voluntary and other times they are compelled. Federal employees are generally expected to participate in internal investigations that are administrative, but if the investigation could have criminal implications, the target(s) maintain their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and they don’t have to cooperate. In that case, before an interview, the investigator would have to provide the employee with a written warning.

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Whistleblowers and sources I represent have been smeared, ruined professionally, terminated, criminally investigated, prosecuted and jailed for far less serious disclosures, and ones that were in the public interest to boot. Just ask Air Force whistleblowers Reality Winner and Daniel Hale; NSA whistleblowers Thomas Drake and Edward Snowden; and CIA whistleblowers Jeffrey Sterling, John Kiriakou, and Christopher Aaron. Both Hegseth and Trump are already aligned in their attacks on those whom they dismiss as “disgruntled employees.” With classic Trumpian projection and zero self-awareness, Hegseth is now blaming “leakers” for the Signal group chat fiasco. ................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/04/23/pete-hegseths-paranoia-is-undermining-the-pentagon/