Trump admin live updates: Judge releases Venezuelan couple accused of being gang members, rips government evidence

Dan Caldwell, a former top adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who was fired from the Pentagon last week allegedly as part of a leak investigation, gave a 90-minute interview with Tucker Carlson in which he denied leaking anything the press.

Caldwell has known Hegseth for more than a decade and worked closely with him as an adviser at Concerned Veterans for America and was seen as a key member of Hegseth’s inner circle.

When Carlson asked him, “Did you leak classified information against the wishes of your superiors to media outlets?” Caldwell responded, “Absolutely not."

He also denied taking photos of classified information and texting them to a specific media outlet, saying he had never spoken to a reporter from that media outlet.

Caldwell blamed leaks at the Pentagon on “career staff who don't like what the president and the secretary and vice president want to do.”

He added that “there's people on the Joint Staff that I kind of respect, but a lot of them are incredibly hostile to the secretary to the president and the vice president's worldview."

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

Joe Kasper, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s chief of staff, is moving to a new role working on special projects at the Pentagon, according to a senior defense official.

“Joe Kasper will continue to serve President Trump as a Special Government Employee (SGE) handling special projects at the Department of Defense,” the official said. “Secretary Hegseth is thankful for his continued leadership and work to advance the America First agenda.

The move is the latest in a number of staff changes at the Pentagon. Three close advisers to Hegseth were pushed out last week amid allegations of leaking to the media, which they denied in a joint statement.

A fourth senior staffer, John Ullyot, said he resigned from the Pentagon, suggesting the building has devolved into “total chaos.”

-ABC News' Anne Flaherty

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem released new advertisements telling migrants, "If you are here illegally, you are next."

The 30 and 60-second ads are part of the DHS's effort to urge migrants who are in the country illegally to leave. In the ad, Noem said those who don't register with DHS and are in the country illegally could be fined up to $1,000 a day.

Earlier this year, the DHS rolled out a $200 million ad blitz touting President Donald Trump's efforts to arrest migrants in the country illegally.

-- ABC News’ Luke Barr

The Trump-Vance inaugural committee raised a staggering $240 million for the second presidential inaugural of President Donald Trump, a new FEC filing shows, including millions from the cryptocurrency industry, cabinet members of the Trump administration and other corporate leaders.

The record-breaking $240 million dwarfs the $107 million that Trump's first inaugural committee had raised in 2017.

The filing only discloses donations and refunds, so it's not yet clear how much of that money was actually spent on inaugural events and how much of that money is left.

The biggest donor was multinational food company Pilgrim's Pride Corporation, which gave $5 million despite having very little political contribution history at the federal level in recent years.

A close runner-up was crypto company Ripple, which gave $4.9 million.

In all, the disclosure filing showed contributions from more than 800 donors to the inaugural committee.

--ABC News' Soo Rin Kim