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Pentagon suspends participation in think tank events

Politico

24-07-2025

Politics
Politico

Pentagon suspends participation in think tank events

The move would sideline the Pentagon from national security dialogues that it has used for decades to advance its policy and explain the department's rationale. Former Defense Secretaries Jim Mattis, Mark Esper and Lloyd Austin have also used think tank events, such as the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Shangri-La Dialogue and the Reagan National Defense Forum, to give major policy speeches and hold sideline meetings with both allies and adversaries. The Pentagon's public affairs, general counsel and policy teams will review all requests for participation at events and will ask for officials' remarks and talking points in advance, according to the email. The directive, which took effect Tuesday, applies to all DOD military officers, civil servants and senior enlisted leaders. The Pentagon's public affairs team must approve any future events. 'In order to ensure the Department of Defense is not lending its name and credibility to organizations, forums, and events that run counter to the values of this administration, the Department's Office of Public Affairs will be conducting a thorough vetting of every event where Defense officials are invited to participate,' chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in an emailed response. It also appears to apply to Pentagon-led events such as Sea Air Space, which is hosted by the Navy League, the military service's largest veteran organization, and Modern Day Marine, a similar trade show for the Marine Corps, although public affairs offices inside the military were still seeking guidance on the directive. The effort to drastically cut the Defense Department's public presence on Washington's think tank circuit comes after the Pentagon said senior leaders would no longer be allowed to attend the Aspen summit, just a day before the gathering began. Navy Secretary John Phelan, Emil Michael, the Defense undersecretary for research and engineering, Defense Innovation Unit chief Doug Beck and several top military officials had been scheduled to speak.

Retired U.S. army officer pleads guilty to sharing classified info on Russia-Ukraine war on dating site

CTV News

14-07-2025

Politics
CTV News

Retired U.S. army officer pleads guilty to sharing classified info on Russia-Ukraine war on dating site

U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper holds a Q&A session during a visit to the U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt AFB, Neb., Feb. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) A retired U.S. army officer who worked as a civilian for the U.S. air force has pleaded guilty to conspiring to transmit classified information about Russia's war with Ukraine on a foreign online dating platform. David Slater, 64, who had top secret clearance at his job at the U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, pleaded guilty to a single count before a federal magistrate judge in Omaha on Thursday. In exchange for his guilty plea, two other counts were dropped. Slater remains free pending his sentencing, which is scheduled for Oct. 8. Prosecutors and his lawyers agreed that he should serve between five years and 10 months and seven years and three months in prison, and the government will recommend a term at the low end of that range. The charge carries a statutory maximum of 10 years behind bars. U.S. District Judge Brian Buescher will ultimately decide whether to accept the plea agreement and will determine Slater's sentence. 'I conspired to willfully communicate national defense information to an unauthorized person,' Slater said in a handwritten note on his petition to change his plea. Slater had access to some of the country's most closely held secrets, John Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement. 'Access to classified information comes with great responsibility,' said Lesley Woods, the U.S. attorney for Nebraska, said in the same statement. 'David Slater failed in his duty to protect this information by willingly sharing National Defense Information with an unknown online personality despite having years of military experience that should have caused him to be suspicious of that person's motives.' Slater retired from the U.S. army as a lieutenant colonel in 2020 and worked in a classified space at the base from around August 2021 until around April 2022. He attended briefings about the Russia-Ukraine war that were classified up to top secret, court documents say. He was arrested in March of 2024. In his plea agreement, he acknowledged that he conspired to transmit classified information that he learned from those briefings via the foreign dating website's messaging platform to an unnamed co-conspirator, who claimed to be a woman living in Ukraine. The information, classified as secret, pertained to military targets and Russian military capabilities, according to the plea agreement. 'Defendant knew and had reason to believe that such information could be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of a foreign nation,' the agreement states. According to the original indictment, the co-conspirator regularly asked Slater for classified information. She called him, 'my secret informant love!' in one message. She closed another by saying, 'You are my secret agent. With love.' In another, she wrote, 'Dave, I hope tomorrow NATO will prepare a very pleasant 'surprise' for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin! Will you tell me?' Court documents don't identify the co-conspirator, or say whether she was working for Ukraine or Russia. They also don't identify the dating platform. Amy Donato, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office in Omaha, said Monday that she couldn't provide that information. Slater's attorney, Stuart Dornan, didn't immediately return a call seeking further details. By Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press

Iran's Regime Is Still Dangerous, Says Esper

Yahoo

25-06-2025

Politics
Yahoo

Iran's Regime Is Still Dangerous, Says Esper

Mark Esper, former US Defense Secretary, says Iran's regime is still dangerous and could respond to the US airstrikes. He also talks about 900 pounds of missing uranium from Iran, the capability of the US military and what could happen if Iran tries to close the Strait of Hormuz. He speaks on "Bloomberg Surveillance." (Corrects spelling of guest's name in headline.) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data