Pentagon leak investigation threatens to expose new turmoil under Hegseth: report

An investigation of leaks at the Pentagon since Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth assumed control has set off fears that a civil war among competing factions will be exposed and further complicate his already troubled tenure.

According to a report from the Guardian's Hugo Lowell, the firings of multiple close aides to the embattled former Fox News personality for allegedly revealing the inner workings of new policies under the Donald Trump appointee has already clouded the investigation with questions being raised over who is telling the truth or lying to win favor for their side.

As Lowell notes, Hegseth is "consumed" by the investigation in the Pentagon which has been "marked for weeks by ugly internal politics" as his now-ousted chief of staff Joe Kasper points fingers at the departed Dan Caldwell, deputy chief Darin Selnick and chief to the deputy defense secretary Colin Carroll.

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According to the report, there are growing fears that what will be uncovered will expose even more dysfunction under Hegseth with growing calls for his resignation or firing.

Lowell wrote, "...the fraught background to the leak investigation of vicious interpersonal conflicts among Hegseth’s senior aides has left them unable to decipher who and what to believe," adding, "the pressures of running an $800bn-plus agency that oversees more than 2 million troops started to catch up, the officials said, and a series of leaks intensified his distrust of career employees, whom defense officials once hoped could guide him to efficiently run the Pentagon."

The Guardian report notes that further revelations may come to light as Carroll ponders "filing a defamation suit against Kasper and started making calls on the Monday after he was fired, asking people whether Kasper had ever been seen doing cocaine in a previous job."

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