A scandal at the highest level in the Pentagon: former US Department of Defence spokesman John Alliot published a critical editorial in Politico, openly accusing current Defence Secretary Pete Hagel of managerial failure and alleged security breaches.
Alliot, who worked on Trump’s team, describes the last month at the Pentagon as “a period of complete chaos“, including massive layoffs, leaks of classified information and discrediting of the fired officials.
In just a few days, key people from Gegset’s team were removed from their positions:
- Chief of Staff Joe Kasper
- his deputy Darin Selnik
- General Counsel Dan Caldwell
- Chief of Staff to the Deputy Minister of Defence Colin Carroll
They issued a joint statement condemning the dismissal as “baseless vilification by anonymous Pentagon officials”.
Adding fuel to the fire is an investigation by The New York Times, which reported that Hagseth used his personal phone to send sensitive data about the military operation in Yemen to a private chat room on Signal where his wife, brother and lawyer were present. The information was confirmed by NBC News sources.
Alliot emphasised that even officials loyal to Haganset can no longer deny it: The Pentagon is experiencing a systemic crisis that is already threatening the Trump administration.
Amid growing political pressure and a wave of dismissals, the resignation of Defence Minister Pete Hughes is now a matter of time. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence has refrained from making any official comment.
