OIG REPORT: Austin Created National Security Risks During Hospitalization

Last year, the country was stunned to find out that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was hospitalized without ever telling the White House.

Trump and conservatives called for his firing, claiming he put our country at risk, but Biden did nothing. Now, an Inspector General’s report on the incident proves that Austin created an “unnecessary” national security risk.

Calling Out Sick

When you are a high-ranking official like the Secretary of Defense, your private life is no longer private, and that includes medical issues. You do not have the luxury of not telling Congress or the White House that you are going in for a procedure. There are protocols in place that must be followed to protect this country, but Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did not follow them.

When Austin went into the hospital for a planned procedure in late December, he did not even bother to tell his Chief of Staff. It was about 24 hours before word was passed down, and even then, the White House was unaware of the hospitalization for about 72 hours.

At the time this happened, there were numerous issues within our military as well as it being the early stages of the war between Israel and Hamas, yet the man who controlled the Pentagon was laid up and nobody knew about it.

Austin was not fired, his chief of staff was not fired, and Biden has no intention of doing anything about it. Keep in mind, had any military officer done what Austin did, they likely would have been severely disciplined, possibly even relieved of duty, but Austin just went along, even defiant at first.

Trump Chimes In

When the incident was finally made public, Donald Trump rightfully called for the firing of Secretary Austin.

Trump stated, “He has been missing for one week, and nobody, including his boss, Crooked Joe Biden, had a clue as to where he was or might be.

“He has performed poorly and should have been dismissed along with ‘General’ Mark Milley, for many reasons, but in particular, the catastrophic surrender in Afghanistan, perhaps the most embarrassing moment in the history of our Country.”

There was even a member of the Pentagon staff who spoke up about it, stating, “There are all of these people around the secretary at all times, who manage him and help him on a day-to-day basis, and no one had the wherewithal to even tell the White House? I’m surprised no one is using the word ‘cover-up’ yet.”

IG Report Released

The backbone of all these complaints was the concern about national security, and the IG report backed that up, stating that Austin going dark likely put the country “unnecessarily” at risk, all because Austin wanted to keep his hospital stay private.

Virtually nobody on Austin’s staff knew he had been diagnosed with cancer and was having a procedure, including his chief of staff and the deputy defense secretary. The report stated, "No one on Secretary Austin’s 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.”

On January 3, 2024, Chief of Staff Kelly Magsamen texted Austin’s junior military assistant, who was with Austin at the time, stating, "I wish [Secretary Austin] were a normal person but he’s the [Secretary of Defense]. We have a big institutional responsibility. He can’t just go totally dark on his staff. … Please pass to him that we can’t keep his hospitalization a secret forever. It’s kind of big deal for him to be in the [SICU]. And I’m worried sick.”

Austin later came out to say that he did not handle this properly, and his punishment from Biden was to put new protocols in place when Austin should have been relieved of duty on the spot. When you consider the upheaval at the time, we are pretty lucky we came out of this unscathed. But once again, it is just more proof that Joe Biden has never been in control of this administration, and it is another black mark on the legacies of Austin and Biden.