‘An Outrage!’ Pentagon Under Intense Fire For ‘Huge’ Failure To Disclose Def. Sec. Austin Hospitalized In Intensive Care — FIVE Days Ago

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The Pentagon and President Joe Biden’s administration took intense heat on Friday and Saturday from politicos and journos alike after a Friday news dump from DOD revealed that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had been hospitalized — on Monday. And the criticism mounted from the Pentagon Press Association and others after learning he’d been in intensive care for part of that stay, all without anything being said to the American people.

“We are writing to express our significant concerns about the Defense Department’s failure to notify the public and the media about Secretary Lloyd Austin’s current hospitalization,” said the Pentagon Press Association in a letter released publicly over the weekend about the administration hiding Austin’s hospitalization. “The fact that he has been at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for four days and the Pentagon is only now alerting the public late on a Friday evening is an outrage.”

The PPA was far from alone in their outrage, which started on Friday evening after the DOD released a very brief statement. “On the evening of January 1, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for complications following a recent elective medical procedure,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder in the statement. “He is recovering well and is expecting to resume his full duties today. At all times, the Deputy Secretary of Defense was prepared to act for and exercise the powers of the Secretary, if required.”

The fact that much of that time was in intensive care was not addressed in the statement, but discovered and reported by NBC News.

Despite the phrasing from Ryder, NBC reported that Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, who had been on scheduled leave, had to pick up Austin‘s duties, according to a “senior defense official.”

When the brief, undetailed Pentagon comment was shared on social media, reporters lit it up.

Veteran CNN Pentagon correspondent and expert Barbara Starr was furious, writing that, “As of tonight I do not see a way forward for believing the Pentagon tells the truth on anything.”

“Reporters are always skeptics but this goes far and deep beyond that always professional skepticism,” she said, calling the secrecy a “huge strategic failure.”

🧵The lack of disclosure that Sec Def was ill is a huge strategic failure. As of tonight I do not see a way forward for believing the Pentagon tells the truth on anything. Reporters are always skeptics but this goes far and deep beyond that always professional skepticism. https://t.co/Zc1DWjMNLS

— Barbara Starr (@bstarrreports) January 5, 2024

Fellow CNN national security journalist Oren Liebermann called the delay “unacceptable, especially given his crucial position in the national security establishment and world events.”

“This is an administration that talked a big game about transparency, and it failed this test. This is a member of the cabinet and the leader of the US military,” Lieberman wrote.

The Pentagon waited four days to disclose that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was admitted to the hospital on New Year's Day.

That delay is unacceptable, especially given his crucial position in the national security establishment and world events.https://t.co/p8bHx0eGjz

— Oren Liebermann (@OrenCNN) January 6, 2024

This is an administration that talked a big game about transparency, and it failed this test. This is a member of the cabinet and the leader of the US military.

He was hospitalized at a time with critical global national security issues. And yet the public knew nothing.

— Oren Liebermann (@OrenCNN) January 6, 2024

Chief national security correspondent for Fox News Jennifer Griffin said it’s “the type of behavior you expect from the Chinese government.”

This is the type of behavior you expect from the Chinese government. https://t.co/e0Zclvnmhw

— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) January 6, 2024

NBC News and MSNBC Pentagon correspondent Courtney Kube reiterated CNN’s Starr, adding “This harms the credibility of Pentagon public affairs for the foreseeable future.”

Well said @bstarrreports. This harms the credibility of Pentagon public affairs for the foreseeable future. https://t.co/j6GFBB8QYf

— Courtney Kube (@ckubeNBC) January 6, 2024

PPA board members Luis Martinez of ABC News, Lolita Baldor of the AP, Aaron Mehta of Breaking Defense, and Phil Stewart of Reuters were furious in their letter demanding accountability.

“The public has a right to know when U.S. Cabinet members are hospitalized, under anesthesia or when duties are delegated as the result of any medical procedure,” they wrote. “That has been the practice even up to the president’s level. As the nation’s top defense leader, Secretary Austin has no claim to privacy in this situation.”

“At a time when there are growing threats to U.S. military service members in the Middle East and the U.S. is playing key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is particularly critical for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making ability of its top defense leader,” the letter reads. “We request a meeting with you to discuss this troubling situation as soon as possible.”

At the time of this post no details have been released regarding the nature of Austin’s medical situation, the reason the Pentagon waited three days to inform the White House or Congress, or why it took 5 days for the press and the American people to learn about the hole leadership at a time of heavy international conflicts and major national security issues.