Joe Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized in intensive care for four whole days and his aides didn’t bother to tell the White House for at least three days.
Even in normal circumstance that would be unusual. But the fact that there’s so much going on in the Middle East, especially with the Houthis attacking ships right and left in the Red Sea, that is just compounds how bizarre it is that they kept the White House in the dark.
But it wasn’t just the White House that wasn’t informed, or Congress or even the public. Only one top DOD official was informed by Austin’s aides and even they were just told he was working from home.
Here’s more via Politico:
The Pentagon did not inform senior officials in the White House’s National Security Council of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization until Thursday — three full days after he arrived at Walter Reed Medical Center, two U.S. officials said.
The news came as a shock to top staff, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan, as they were unaware the DOD chief was dealing with complications following an elective medical procedure, the officials said. NSC staffers were surprised it took the Pentagon so long to let them know of Austin’s condition. The Pentagon didn’t make the information public until Friday evening, notifying Congress about 15 minutes before releasing a public statement.
“This should not have happened this way,” said one of the U.S. officials, who like others were granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue. The NSC didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Chuck Hagel, the former senator who served as defense secretary during the Obama administration, said the Pentagon absolutely had to let the NSC know about Austin’s condition and whereabouts. “The NSC is part of your team, it’s part of the family,” he stated during a brief interview. “The president has to know where his Cabinet members are at all times.”
On Friday evening, as many people were turning toward their weekends, DOD spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder announced that Austin had been hospitalized since Jan. 1. His deputy, Kathleen Hicks, partially assumed some of his duties from Jan. 1 until Jan. 5, when he resumed his full duties, according to one senior DOD official.
But Austin’s hospitalization was a closely guarded secret, kept from even senior Pentagon officials and congressional leaders until just before the public statement, according to nine DOD officials and two congressional aides. Some Pentagon officials only learned of Austin’s situation through Ryder’s news release. One of the DOD officials said their office was told by Austin’s aides that the secretary was working from home for the week.
The delayed news four days afterward — and the fact he’d relinquished some of his duties as Pentagon chief — was met with outrage by members of the press on Friday. But the frustration extended beyond the fourth estate to the Pentagon’s E-Ring and the halls of Congress.
“The vast, vast majority of leaders were unaware,” said one U.S. official.
Why the need for so much secrecy? What was this elective medical procedure that needed to be kept from even the people he worked for? Sounds like he’s gonna be answering questions about this for the foreseeable future unless he comes clean…