For more than a year, some of the most damaging stories about Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and his inner circle have followed a familiar formula: explosive claims attributed to unnamed Pentagon officials, published by reporters with deep sources inside the building. At the same time, some of those stories have elevated officials increasingly at odds with Hegseth — fueling suspicions among his allies about who was talking to whom.
Then came a retirement party in Alexandria.
RedState has learned that several journalists whose bylines have appeared on Hegseth-critical stories, including Jeffrey Goldberg of "Signalgate" fame, were among the guests invited to the June 20 retirement bash for Col. Dave Butler, the longtime spokesman for former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley whom Hegseth had ordered fired months earlier. Also at Butler's home that night: Milley himself and then-Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, a Trump appointee whose relationship with Hegseth had deteriorated and whom some of that same press coverage had portrayed as a rising Pentagon star.
The gathering — advertised as “The 5th Annual Butler Rager: Fired and Retired Edition” — brought together, socially and outside the Pentagon, figures who had become central to both sides of the internal fight: officials Hegseth's allies suspected of resisting his agenda and the journalists publishing anonymously sourced stories about that fight.
The invitation billed the gathering as “The Butler Rager, Fired and Retired Edition,” with keg taps at 7 PM, cocktails, and a pitch to “come for an hour or stay all night” and to take an Uber.
For Hegseth's allies inside the Pentagon, who already believed they were watching a coordinated whisper campaign play out in the press, the guest list was striking. Sources speaking to RedState on condition of anonymity say learning that Driscoll was partying with Milley, Butler, and journalists covering the Pentagon only deepened those suspicions.
Despite his ties to Milley, Butler became Driscoll's chief of Army public affairs and a senior communications adviser to both Driscoll and then-Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, a Biden nominee who'd formerly served as senior military assistant to then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Tensions between Butler and Hegseth were widely reported throughout 2025 and came into sharp focus when Butler traveled with Driscoll on the Army secretary's widely reported November 2025 trip to Kyiv.
After that visit, Hegseth pulled Driscoll off follow-on Ukraine talks, with sources telling The Telegraph that Driscoll “had his hand slapped.” A Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told RedState that Butler wasn't just a passenger on that trip, but was in the driver's seat, steering what the official described as a “public-affairs failure” meant to sow division.
The final straw came in February, when Hegseth ordered Driscoll to fire Butler. Butler submitted retirement papers instead. That ouster has been reported; Butler's retirement party being a union of unlikely guests has not.
Who Is Col. Dave Butler?
According to two Pentagon sources, the White House and top Pentagon brass have long suspected that Butler played a key role in Milley's collaboration with authors working on books critical of President Trump's first term, including the 2021 rollout of “Peril” by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. That book detailed Milley's calls to Chinese military officials after the 2020 election, leading then-Sen. Marco Rubio to brand those revelations “treasonous” and “reckless,” arguing they showed a disregard for civilian control of the military.
According to these books, Milley said he believed Trump would create a “Reichstag moment” after the 2020 election in order to invoke the Insurrection Act, comparing Trump's rhetoric to Hitler's; told his Chinese counterpart he would provide advance warning of a U.S. attack; and later called Trump “fascist to the core.” In 2021, Milley told the Senate the China calls were part of his duty. He would not confirm the Reichstag and Hitler lines and said he had not read the books.
Butler was Milley's chief spokesperson and top strategic communications adviser when that record was built. In that role, he was the point man for the press operation around the situation and the official line that followed. On September 15, 2021, after Milley's calls with China were reported, it was Butler who issued the Joint Staff's written defense, saying the conversations were routine counterpart talks coordinated with the Defense Department and intended to maintain “strategic stability.”
Years later, Butler was back in a top Pentagon public-affairs position — this time under the Trump administration — before Hegseth ordered him removed.
Forced Retirement and a Wild Party
In a telephone call, Butler initially confirmed details about his party, including attendance by Driscoll, Milley, and several journalists, after this reporter claimed attendance at the event — to which Butler replied, “Awesome.” When then asked whether he had worked in concert with members of the media to leak information and smear Hegseth, Butler did not issue a denial. Instead, he abruptly ended the call, but not before muttering something and asking, “Robert, where do you work?”
Driscoll's presence is perhaps the most stunning given his status at the time as a Trump appointee and direct subordinate of the Secretary of War.
Nancy Youssef confirmed details of the event but said she was not there; she would not confirm or deny whether her colleague Missy Ryan attended.
Youssef and Ryan have been among The Atlantic's principal Pentagon bylines during this saga. Three days after the party, they published another anonymously sourced Pentagon story, this one reporting that Gen. Christopher Donahue — who had been seen by some as a leading candidate to run the Army — was "expected to announce as soon as tomorrow that he will be relinquishing his post later this summer, two people familiar with the matter told us."
A third Pentagon source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told RedState the reporting on the guest list was accurate and confirming that “even Jeffrey Goldberg was in attendance at his party.”
That source added, “The attendance of former Army Secretary Driscoll, Col. Butler, and who knows how many other current officials at this party mingling with Mark Milley and journalists who routinely seek classified information to leak is inappropriate. I wouldn't be surprised if the individuals at this party were leaking their entire time while at the Department. This secret gathering of military officials and journalists is the embodiment of the Swamp that the American people are sick of.”