Pentagon official, who was sidelined after removal of Jackie Robinson post, resigns 

The Pentagon’s former top spokesman announced his resignation Wednesday after being sidelined last month for his role in the removal of a Department of Defense website celebrating MLB trailblazer Jackie Robinson. 

John Ullyot, who had been running the Pentagon’s press shop on an acting basis, told Politico that his decision to leave the DoD came after a meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth failed to result in a job offer to his liking. 

“I made clear to Secretary [Pete] Hegseth before the inauguration that I was not interested in being number two to anyone in public affairs,” Ullyot told the outlet, noting that from the outset, he only offered to assist the Pentagon for two months on an acting basis. 

“Last month, as that time approached, the Secretary and I talked and could not come to an agreement on another good fit for me at DOD,” he added. “So I informed him today that I will be leaving at the end of this week.”

Ullyot indicated that he will continue to be a staunch supporter of Hegseth.

Ullyot had been relegated to a “special projects” role at the Pentagon following the uproar over the removal of an online article centered on Robinson’s military background, the Washington Post reported last month. 

Robinson, a member of baseball’s Hall of Fame, broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947, becoming the first black player to play in the modern era when he made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Ullyot initially defended the removal of the Robinson article, releasing a statement on March 19 declaring that diversity, equity and inclusion “is dead at the Defense Department,” according to ESPN. 

About an hour later, the public affairs official released an updated statement claiming: “Everyone at the Defense Department loves Jackie Robinson, as well as the Navajo Code Talkers, the Tuskegee airmen, the Marines at Iwo Jima and so many others — we salute them for their strong and in many cases heroic service to our country, full stop.” 

“In the rare cases that content is removed – either deliberately or by mistake – that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components and they correct the content so it recognizes our heroes for their dedicated service alongside their fellow Americans, period,” Ullyot added. 

The Robinson story was restored on the DoD website shortly after. 

Ullyot was subsequently replaced by Sean Parnell as the top Pentagon spokesman. 

His resignation comes the same week as three top Pentagon officials have been put on leave amid a probe into leaks at the Department of Defense.