Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s top aides were reportedly fighting a vicious “turf war” in the lead-up to three of them being fired last week accused of leaking information to the press.
Hegseth had become increasingly isolated and paranoid over the past month as news of the Pentagon’s controversial plans leaked, including details of military plans for the Panama Canal, the movement of a U.S. carrier in the Red Sea, the decision to pause intelligence gathering related to Ukraine, and Elon Musk’s visit to discuss China.
Pentagon senior adviser Dan Caldwell, Deputy Chief of Staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense, were all put on administrative leave and escorted out of the building following a probe into the leaks.
They’ve slammed their dismissals as “unconscionable,” and Caldwell in particular has blamed their firings on a bizarre deep state plot that he claims implicates former Obama administration officials.
According to new reporting, however, the fired aides were doing battle not with the woke ghosts of administrations past, but with Hegseth’s own chief of staff, Joe Kaspar.
Selnick and Caldwell were both hired in response to Kaspar’s perceived leadership problems, according to Politico.
Kaspar was often late to meetings and “lacked the focus and organizational skills” to do his job properly, sources told the outlet. He berated officials in meetings, referred to military officials by a lower rank, and was prone to juvenile tangents about strip club visits and bowel movements.
“Can I just tell everyone around this table that I just took an enormous s–t right before coming in here?” he said at the beginning of one high-level meeting, according to two people who were there.
Kaspar told Politico the story was taken out of context and that he had been joking the team was in a “major s–t-con,” his way of saying they were in trouble.
Regardless, Pentagon sources say Kaspar fostered a toxic work environment, according to Politico. MAGA loyalist Selnick was brought in to help, and Hegseth began leaning on Caldwell more. Both had worked with him at Concerned Veterans for America, the nonprofit that Hegseth ran from 2013 to 2016.
He has been accused of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct during his time there, according to The New Yorker. Hegseth has denied wrongdoing and was never charged with any crimes.
At the Pentagon, Hegseth’s expansion of his inner circle created tension with Kaspar, according to Politico.
“He did not like that they had walk-in and hanging-out privileges in the office. He wanted them out. It was a knife fight,” a source told the outlet.
The Pentagon denied to Politico that there had been a clash of personalities but otherwise declined to comment on the claims. Kaspar denied having any issues with senior advisors, while Carroll, Caldwell and Selnick declined to comment.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Defense Department for comment.
According to the New York Post, Kaspar felt “threatened” as more and more of his portfolio went to Selnick and Caldwell. The two were overseeing “recommendations on appointments, decisions on high-level official visits and official travel planning — much of what was emerging as a priority for that given week,” according to the source.
Caldwell was also responsible for Middle East and Ukraine policy, while Selnick oversaw the cancellation of “DEI and identity politics” at the Defense Department.
Kaspar began criticizing his rivals to Hegseth, and the infighting got so bad that Hegseth began to worry his senior staff were the ones doing the leaking as a way to undercut their rivals, Politico reported.
During the investigation, Kaspar zeroed in on the people he claims spoke to the press: Selnick, Caldwell, and Carroll.
His critics, on the other hand, say he used the investigation as an opportunity to oust the others and consolidate his power, according to Politico. A source told the New York Post the firings were the result of a “turf war.”
The whole thing has left a stain on Hegseth, whose leadership skills and judgment were thrown even further into question, Politico reported. He was already facing calls to resign after it was revealed that he had shared detailed military strike information in an unsecured group chat on his personal device.
Kaspar also suffered a hit of his own. He is no longer serving as Hegseth’s chief of staff. He’s been designated a “special government employee” and will be moved elsewhere in the department.
