The White House has reportedly lost confidence in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leak investigation after officials were told that an illegal wiretap was used in the probe.
The Guardianreported on Tuesday that officials had notified Vice President JD Vance after the Defense Department officials claimed they employed an "illegal warrantless National Security Agency (NSA) wiretap" to out senior Hegseth adviser Dan Caldwell, who was fired last month with two other aides.
White House officials found the wiretap claim to be untrue "and complained that they were being fed dubious information by Hegseth's personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore, who had been tasked with overseeing the investigation," the report noted.
"The episode, as recounted by four people familiar with the matter, marked the most extraordinary twist in the investigation examining the leak of an allegedly top secret document that outlined options for the US military to reclaim the Panama canal to a reporter."
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Parlatore, however, denied having told anyone about an illegal wiretap and blamed others at the Pentagon instead.
Sources told The Guardian that the events led to a breakdown in trust between the White House and the Pentagon's leak investigation.
"Trump advisers tracking the investigation have privately suggested they no longer have any idea about who or what to believe," the report said.