Overview

• Hegseth’s lawyer, Tim Parlatore, told White House advisers that a warrantless NSA wiretap identified the phones of his fired aides, a claim he later denied and said he only relayed
• The disputed allegation cast doubt on the internal probe into a top-secret Panama Canal document leak that led to the April firing of Dan Caldwell, Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll
• The inquiry was shifted to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg’s office as trust fractured between the Pentagon and the White House
• The fallout has left Hegseth’s office without a chief or deputy chief of staff and dependent on senior advisers to manage day-to-day operations
• Hegseth now confronts a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing scheduled for next month that could heighten pressure over his handling of the case