{"id":30586,"date":"2025-01-15T23:29:17","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T23:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/15\/secretary-austins-secret-hospitalizations-unnecessarily-increased-us-national-security-risks-report-finds\/"},"modified":"2025-01-15T23:29:17","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T23:29:17","slug":"secretary-austins-secret-hospitalizations-unnecessarily-increased-us-national-security-risks-report-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/15\/secretary-austins-secret-hospitalizations-unnecessarily-increased-us-national-security-risks-report-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Secretary Austin’s secret hospitalizations ‘unnecessarily’ increased US national security risks, report finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin<\/a>\u2019s secret hospitalizations “unnecessarily” increased America\u2019s national security risk, according to a new report from the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (OIG).\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Pentagon<\/a> watchdog\u2019s scathing 188-page review scrutinizes the secretary\u2019s hospitalizations in December 2023, January 2024 and February 2024 and puts the blame on Austin\u2019s team for communication lapses and failures to transfer authority. \u00a0<\/p>\n

OIG noted the main role Austin\u2019s “strong desire for privacy about his medical condition” played in the breakdown of communications within the Pentagon, as well as between Defense Department and the White House and Congress.<\/p>\n

Neither Austin\u2019s chief of staff nor Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks knew of his cancer diagnosis or the procedure he underwent in December 2023. In fact, OIG notes that “nearly all of his staff” were unaware of Austin\u2019s medical condition and treatments.<\/p>\n

DR. MARC SIEGEL: PATIENT PRIVACY DOESN’T COVER LLOYD AUSTIN’S SECRET HOSPITALIZATION<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Evidence also allegedly indicates that, on Jan. 1, 2024, when he was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for “severe” pain, Austin requested the ambulance not use lights or sirens. Additionally, according to the report, Austin told his personal security officer not to notify anyone about the incident.<\/p>\n

“No one on Secretary Austin\u2019s staff knew the seriousness of his condition, including when his condition became worse and he was transferred to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit on January 2,” OIG noted in its report.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 3, 2024, Austin\u2019s chief of staff, Kelly Magsamen, texted the secretary\u2019s junior military assistant, who was in the hospital with the secretary at the time. In her message, Magsamen urged the secretary to be more forthcoming about his condition.<\/p>\n

“I wish [Secretary Austin] were a normal person but he\u2019s the [Secretary of Defense]. We have a big institutional responsibility. He can\u2019t just go totally dark on his staff. \u2026 Please pass to him that we can\u2019t keep his hospitalization a secret forever. It\u2019s kind of big deal for him to be in the [SICU]. And I\u2019m worried sick,” Magsamen wrote, according to the OIG report.<\/p>\n

The OIG also found that on Feb. 11, 2024, when Austin was once again unexpectedly hospitalized, his authorities were not transferred “until several hours later.” In reference to this incident, the OIG noted that “given the seriousness of his condition,” Austin\u2019s authorities should have been transferred “hours earlier than ultimately occurred.”<\/p>\n

After its review, the OIG gave the DOD 20 recommendations to “improve processes” and advised the department to act on them promptly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PENTAGON RELEASES SUMMARY OF AUSTIN HOSPITAL REVIEW<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Inspector General Robert Storch said in a statement that “while the DoD has taken some important steps to address these concerns, additional improvements are required to ensure the DoD\u2019s readiness, transparency, and the fulfillment of its mission. These improvements are not just an administrative necessity; they are an operational and national security imperative.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the report found that the Department of Defense lacked a “comprehensive” plan for handing off duties in the event of the secretary\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n

After the report\u2019s release, a senior defense official admitted to reporters that Austin “made a mistake,” insisting “there was no scandal” and “there was no cover up.” The official also noted that “at every moment, either the Secretary of Defense or the Deputy Secretary of Defense was fully prepared to support the president.”<\/p>\n

Austin acknowledged his office\u2019s shortcomings in a February 2024 press conference shortly after the hospitalizations became public.<\/p>\n

“I want to be crystal clear. We did not handle this right, and I did not handle this right,” Austin said at the time<\/a> regarding his previous hospitalization. “I should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. I should have also told my team and the American public, and I take full responsibility. I apologize to my teammates and to the American people.”<\/p>\n

Liz Friden contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin\u2019s secret hospitalizations “unnecessarily” increased America\u2019s national security risk, according to a new report from the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (OIG).\u00a0 The Pentagon watchdog\u2019s scathing 188-page review scrutinizes the secretary\u2019s hospitalizations in December 2023, January 2024 and February 2024 and puts the blame on Austin\u2019s team for communication lapses … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30586\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}