Former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot was asked to resign this week following a contentious start for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s communications office, a senior defense official told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Ullyot was one of Hegseth’s initial communications office hires and oversaw some of its most highly visible but controversial moves, including a broad edict to the military services to strip away online images that were considered a promotion of diversity, equity or inclusion.
That directive led to public outcry when images of national heroes like Jackie Robinson and others were removed. Ullyot told Politico on Wednesday he had come to the decision to resign. A senior defense official familiar with the decision said that wasn’t the case and that Hegseth’s office had requested that Ullyot resign.
Ullyot did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ullyot’s departure Wednesday was not tied to the Defense Department’s ongoing investigation into unauthorized disclosures of information, which so far has led to three other senior Pentagon aides being escorted out of the building.
Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg; Darin Selnick, deputy chief of staff for Hegseth; and Dan Caldwell, an aide to Hegseth, were placed on leave amid the leak investigation, two other U.S. officials said.
It was not immediately clear what leaks led to the departures.
All three officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not been made public.
Tara Copp is a Pentagon correspondent for the Associated Press. She was previously Pentagon bureau chief for Sightline Media Group.
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