The former chief adviser to War Secretary Pete Hegseth has quietly reemerged in a powerful corner of the intelligence community, raising fresh questions about internal battles over leaks, loyalty, and the direction of U.S. national security policy.
According to the Gateway Pundit, Dan Caldwell, who was removed from the Pentagon in April 2025 during a widely publicized leak crackdown, has now been hired by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to serve at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Fox News reported Tuesday that Caldwell is in the onboarding process at ODNI after clearing a polygraph examination and a series of background and security checks.
His new role, while described as administrative, will still place him close to the nerve center of the intelligence apparatus that shapes the Presidents daily briefing across all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies.
A source familiar with the move told Fox News that Caldwell has already passed a polygraph and sailed through background checks, underscoring that he remains fully cleared to handle sensitive information despite his controversial exit from the Pentagon. The same source emphasized that Caldwell is stepping into an administrative coordination position, one that does not directly draft intelligence assessments but nonetheless feeds directly into the process that informs the commander-in-chief.
The outlet further reported: A former top advisor to War Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was ousted amid a high-profile leak investigation, has been hired to work under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, according to a source familiar with the move. That hiring comes at a moment of visible internal dissent, as earlier Tuesday National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent resigned in protest over the administrations Iran policy, arguing that Tehran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States, a rare public break from within the national security establishment.
A source familiar with Caldwells new assignment described it as an administrative role focused on internal management and coordination rather than direct involvement in crafting intelligence judgments or setting national security policy. Even so, ODNIs central function is to synchronize intelligence across the sprawling federal bureaucracy and to shape the Presidents Daily Brief, meaning that personnel choices there inevitably carry strategic weight.
The Pentagon declined to comment on Caldwells hiring or on the current status of the leak investigation that led to his ouster, maintaining the opaque posture that has characterized the episode from the start. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations, which has jurisdiction over many sensitive national security inquiries, did not respond to requests for comment.
Caldwells removal in April 2025 was part of a sweeping purge of senior staff at the Pentagon ordered during a leak crackdown that the Trump administration argued was essential to root out bad actors undermining national security. Along with Caldwell, two other senior aides, Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll, were also forced out in what supporters saw as a politically tinged effort by entrenched bureaucrats to sideline America First voices.
Dan Caldwell was escorted out of the Pentagon for an unauthorized disclosure, according to Reuters, though the nature and substance of that alleged disclosure have never been publicly detailed. Reuters reported that his removal followed a March 21 memorandum ordering a Pentagon investigation into leaks, initiated by Hegseths chief of staff amid growing concern that internal opponents were using the media to sabotage policy.
In a sharply worded joint statement at the time, Caldwell, Selnick, and Carroll declared that they were incredibly disappointed by how their service ended and accused unnamed Pentagon officials of smearing them with baseless attacks as they were pushed out. We are incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended. Unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door, they said, directly challenging the narrative advanced by their critics.
They stressed their record of honorable service, noting, All three of us served our country honorably in uniform for two of us, this included deployments to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They further insisted that they took information security seriously, stating, And, based on our collective service, 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.
Despite what they described as an unconscionable experience, the three aides reaffirmed their support for the administrations broader agenda. While this experience has been unconscionable, we remain supportive of the Trump-Vance Administrations mission to make the Pentagon great again and achieve peace through strength. We hope in the future to support those efforts in different capacities, they said, underscoring their alignment with a more assertive, yet restrained, America First defense posture.
Caldwells reappearance in a senior intelligence environment suggests that, despite efforts by some within the bureaucracy to sideline him, his expertise and loyalty to the administrations agenda remain valued at the highest levels. His reported participation in the Mike Waltz Houthi Signal chat group further highlights his continued engagement with frontline national security issues, even as the political and bureaucratic struggle over leaks, Iran policy, and the direction of U.S. power continues to play out behind closed doors.
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