No one told Congress that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spent five days in an intensive care unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center while his second in command was on vacation in Puerto Rico.
Austin was hospitalized on Friday for “complications,” resulting from “an elective medical procedure.” NBC News now reports that this story was far worse than Austin lying in a bed with bandages, he was in intensive care. Kathleen Hicks, the Deputy Secretary for Defense at the time, was in Puerto Rico on leave.
Pentagon officials refused, however, to give any details about Austin’s health or what exactly prevented him from performing his duties during this week.
The Pentagon would not reveal any details about the procedure, when it occurred, or whether Austin was transported to hospital by ambulance.
Ryder responded to NBC News when asked why the Pentagon had kept Austin’s hospitalization a secret. “This was an evolving situation where we had several factors that we needed to take into consideration.”
While Austin was in ICU, and his deputy was on vacation, US drones struck the leader of a militia in Iran responsible for attacking US forces in Iraq & Syria.
Aftermath of U.S. strike on Abu Taqwa, the commander of the 12th Brigade of Iranian-sponsored Popular Mobilization Forces, today in Baghdad.
Iraqi authorities have already blamed the attack on the International Coalition Forces led by the United States, calling it a gross… pic.twitter.com/iGLUkEYVWw
— Clash Report (@clashreport) January 4, 2024
It seems unprofessional to give the order for a terrorist’s a**hole to be blown up while wearing IV lines and sipping pina coladas on the beach.
Austin allegedly “resumed his full duties” on Friday night. However, he is still hospitalized.
UPDATE: @SecDef is still in the hospital and recovering well, per @PentagonPresSec. He resumed his full duties last evening.
“I don’t have any updates to provide at this time in terms of when he’ll be discharged, but we will be sure to keep you and others updated.” https://t.co/1AfNJlLTbl
— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) January 6, 2024
What we now know is far worse than what I thought. Austin was in the hospital without informing Congress for a whole week.
Austin had some kind of “elective surgery” before New Year’s Day. The Pentagon is very reticent about it. The Pentagon is being very cagey about the fact that Austin underwent “elective” surgery. Austin was discharged from the hospital and suffered a medical issue. He was then readmitted to Walter Reed. He was again sent to the ICU, where he stayed for five days.
The Pentagon has so far refused to confirm whether Austin lost consciousness or not (this may be because it is difficult to determine) and how much his Democrat apparatchik assistant took over his duties.
No one has asked if the White House was informed. We are focusing on Congressional notification.
