Top Pentagon adviser placed on leave amid leak probe: Report

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) – One of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's top advisers has been placed on administrative leave, Fox News reported Tuesday.

Citing a Defense Department official, the report said Dan Caldwell was put on leave for an "unauthorized disclosure" of information.

According to Fox News, Caldwell previously argued that the US should dramatically reduce its footprint in Europe and pull out forces in Iraq and Syria.

On March 21, Department of Defense Chief of Staff Joe Kasper signed a memo requesting a probe into "recent unauthorized disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications."

"The use of polygraphs in the execution of this investigation will be in accordance with applicable law and policy," Kasper wrote in the memo, adding the investigation will "commence immediately and culminate" in a report to Hegseth.