Three Pentagon officials fired on Friday after being placed on administrative leave amid an ongoing investigation into information leaks at the Defense Department say they are "incredibly disappointed by the manner in which our service at the Department of Defense ended."

In a joint statement from Dan Caldwell, Colin Carroll, and Darin Selnick, posted on Caldwell's X account, they claim that "unnamed Pentagon officials have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door."

"All three of us served our country honorably in uniform - for two of us, this included deployments to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, based on our collective service, we understand the importance of information security and worked every day to protect it," the statement continues.

On Tuesday, the Defense Department

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