U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirms for the first time this morning to Fox News that the three senior staffers fired last week from the Pentagon, Dan Caldwell, Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll; were fired for accusations of leaking classified information, “When you dismiss people who you believe are leaking classified information - and again, the investigation is ongoing and that will take time, and when the evidence is produced it will go to DOJ - why would it surprise anyone Brian if the very same people keep leaking… Once a leaker, always a leaker, often a leaker.”

“If one or two of these guys are exonerated after an investigation, great, that’s what investigations are for. But we took it seriously. It led to some unfortunate places - people I have known for quite some time. But it’s not my job to protect them. It’s my job to protect national security, the President of the United States.”