Advisor singled out: “I screwed up something huge”

Pete Hegseth

He is singled out in the chaos: “Something huge happened”

Johan Edgar

Updated 12.42 | Published 11.33

Pete Hegseth’s days as Secretary of Defense may be numbered.

Now a person is being singled out as the driving force behind the chaos that is paralyzing the Pentagon.

– There is a lot of bad blood, a source tells Politico.

The scandals and revelations have been succeeding each other in the Pentagon since Donald Trump  took over the White House.

In a Politico review of the personal conflicts that have contributed to the “total chaos” that is said to prevail, several sources point to one man as the driving force:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's chief of staff Joe Kasper.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff is pointed out as contributing to the “total chaos” at the Defense Department. Photo: AP

A tangle of intrigue

He is said to have plotted to get rid of three competitors for Hegseth’s attention – adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and deputy chief of staff Colin Carroll.

The trio were described as Hegseth’s inner circle and were forced to leave their positions after an investigation led by Kasper concluded that they were behind a series of leaks to the media.

The leaked information from inside the Pentagon is said to have shaken Hegseth and made him isolated and paranoid, writes Politico.

According to the site's sources, Kasper is said to have taken the opportunity and exploited the chaos to get rid of the three men at the top.

Made people uncomfortable

- It's very tense, there's a lot of bad blood, a source tells Politico.

- There are a lot of people trying to assert themselves in an environment where it's very difficult to do so without cutting someone else down.

Many in the staff saw problems with Kasper right from the start after Pete Hegseth was approved by the Senate and appointed as chief of staff.

He is said to have been late to meetings, handed over important tasks without following up and "lacked focus and organizational skills".

Kasper is also accused of having made people around him uncomfortable with his often childish behavior.

Described bathroom visit at meeting

During an important meeting with defense chiefs, he turned and said: “Can I just tell everyone around the table that I screwed up something huge right before I got here,” according to two sources to Politico.

The high tensions at the top worsened when Selnick was brought in as deputy chief of staff to deal with Kasper’s leadership problems. Hegseth is also said to have leaned increasingly towards the adviser Caldwell, whom he had known for a long time.

– Kasper didn’t like that they had the secretary’s ear. He didn’t like that they could go in and hang out as they wanted. It was a knife fight, a source tells Politico.

Last week, Hegseth fired the trio after being convinced by Kasper that they were behind the leaks.

“Personal vendettas”

None of them say they have seen any evidence of the investigation that is supposed to have been carried out and they claim to be innocent.

– These are people who have had personal vendettas against us, Caldwell said on Monday in an interview with Tucker Carlson.

The fighting has also backfired on Kasper himself, who announced late last week that he too is leaving Hegseth's staff.

– There is a complete meltdown in the building and it is reflected in the secretary's leadership. Pete Hegseth has surrounded himself with some people who are not focused on his best interests, says a source.

CNN stated last night that it is "unlikely" that Donald Trump will fire the secretary of defense as the situation is right now. In part because he had to fight hard to get Hegseth approved by the Senate.

Joe Kasper tells Politico that his statement at the meeting about the bathroom visit "is taken out of context" and that he only launched an investigation into the leaks after being ordered to do so by the secretary of defense.