Pete Hegseth responds to former staffer who slammed him in op-ed

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brushed off former chief spokesperson John Ullyot’s allegations that “total chaos” and “dysfunction” are occurring at the Pentagon during a Tuesday interview on “Fox & Friends.”

Politico published Ullyot’s op-ed titled, “Former Top Pentagon Spokesperson Details ‘Month From Hell’ Inside the Agency,” on Sunday which alleged that Hegseth’s leadership is causing a “full blown meltdown” at the Pentagon and suggested that President Donald Trump will replace the secretary. During the “Fox & Friends” interview, Hegseth said it is “unfortunate” that Ullyot has “misrepresented” what is going on at the Pentagon in the press for political reasons.

“Anybody that knows John knows why we let him go,” Hegseth said. “We did a lot of favors for John, he did some good work upfront, then he was moved along and asked to move along. Now he’s misrepresented a lot of things in the press, it’s unfortunate. We did right by him and tried to help, he’s spinning it otherwise. It’s too bad. It’s politics I guess.”

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Ullyot criticized the exits of senior adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and chief of staff to the deputy secretary of Defense Colin Carroll, who are said to have been placed on administrative leave for leaking sensitive information as part of an investigation that took place in early April. He claimed that Hegseth’s team spread “flat-out, easily debunked falsehoods” about these senior officials as they were put on leave from the Pentagon.

“While the department said that it would conduct polygraph tests as part of the probe, not one of the three has been given a lie detector test. In fact, at least one of them has told former colleagues that investigators advised him he was about to be cleared officially of any wrongdoing,” Ullyot wrote. “Unfortunately, Hegseth’s team has developed a habit of spreading flat-out, easily debunked falsehoods anonymously about their colleagues on their way out the door.”

Hegseth disputed reports that Joe Kasper, Hegseth’s chief of staff, is set to leave the agency following a string of dismissals of other top staffers, stating that he will remain at the agency with a “slightly different role.”

The former chief spokesperson said in his op-ed that was not part of this purge, but had voluntarily stepped down from his role when Hegseth offered him a new position.

Ullyot further mentioned the leak of a Signal chat which contained details regarding an attack on the Houthis in Yemen to The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg. Hegseth also reportedly brought his wife to “two meetings with foreign military counterparts where sensitive information was discussed” and shared more information about a Yemen strike in another signal chat that included his spouse and brother, according to The New York Times.

The Department of Defense Inspector General (DoDIG) launched an investigation into the first leak on April 3 at the request of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Ullyot said that many will “applaud quietly” if Trump holds Hegseth accountable by firing him from his position.

“The president deserves better than the current mishegoss at the Pentagon,” Ullyot wrote. “Given his record of holding prior Cabinet leaders accountable, many in the secretary’s own inner circle will applaud quietly if Trump chooses to do the same in short order at the top of the Defense Department.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told “Fox & Friends” Monday that Hegseth is doing a “phenomenal job” leading the Pentagon. Trump said during the White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday that Hegseth is “doing a great job” at the Pentagon and that “disgruntled employees” are spreading false information about his job performance.

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