Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Pentagon advisory committee members after another ousted top official accused them of being the source of a series of embarrassing leaks.
Former President Obama adviser Susan Rice, who sat on the Defense Policy Board, was among those sacked.
Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell announced the purge in a statement late Thursday.
He signaled the move had long been in the works as the group was dismissed Wednesday after a 45-day review.
“Secretary Hegseth appreciates the members’ efforts on behalf of the department and the United States of America, but changes are needed to support the new strategic direction and policy priorities of the department and to ensure departmental resources are used efficiently,” Parnell said in a statement.
However, their dismissal came after a top Pentagon official, who was fired as part of the investigation into the series of unflattering leaks, accused members of the committee of being behind the damaging information slowly coming out of the department.
In an interview with former Fox News host and conspiracy theorist Tucker Carlson on Monday, Dan Caldwell insisted he and two others – Colin Carroll and Darin Selnick – were not behind the leaks.
He claimed that people with “personal vendettas” against the trio had “weaponized the investigation” against them.
Caldwell argued that the leaks were actually coming from career officials who did not like what President Donald Trump or Hegseth wanted to do.
He mentioned “people on the joint staff” but he also pointed to the advisory committee members as a “less obvious” source of the leaks.
Caldwell specifically named Rice, who served as Obama’s National Security Adviser.
He also pointed fingers at Michele Flournoy, a Defense Department official in the Clinton and Obama administrations and Eric Edelman, who served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the George W. Bush administration.
All three maintained their security clearances after leaving office, but it is not clear how any of the former government officials would have known about personal details on Hegseth that have since come to light.
Despite the lack of evidence, Caldwell’s accusations enraged MAGA loyalists online who called for Rice to be fired.
On Friday, Trump’s closest allies celebrated the purge of Pentagon advisory committee members.
“Now you know exactly why the Swamp hates @PeteHegseth so much!” wrote Trump’s son Don Jr.
“Good move,” posted Elon Musk on X. “There are thousands of committees that take up a lot of time without clear accomplishments.”
The Pentagon launched the 45-day review of the Defense Department advisory committees in early March.
The review called for the leaders overseeing the committees to write memos explaining how their work aligned with Trump’s goals. During the review, committees largely paused operations.
