WASHINGTON — The Pentagon launched new particulars Sunday about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s continued hospitalization, saying he had a medical process Dec. 22, went house a day later and was admitted to intensive care Jan. 1 when he started experiencing extreme ache.
The newest info got here as members of each events in Congress expressed sharp issues in regards to the secrecy of Austin’s hospital keep and the truth that the president and different senior leaders have been stored at nighttime about it for days.
The assertion, launched by Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, didn’t, nonetheless, present any particulars in regards to the medical process or what truly occurred on Monday to require Austin to be in intensive care on the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Ryan mentioned Austin was positioned within the hospital’s intensive care unit “due to his medical needs, but then remained in that location in part due to hospital space considerations and privacy.”
The Pentagon’s failure to reveal Austin’s hospitalization, together with to President Joe Biden, the National Security Council and prime Pentagon leaders, for days displays a surprising lack of transparency about his sickness, how critical it was and when he could also be launched. Such secrecy, when the United States is juggling myriad nationwide safety crises, runs counter to regular follow with the president and different senior U.S. officers and Cabinet members.
Ryder mentioned the National Security Council and Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks weren’t notified till Thursday, Jan. 4, that Austin had been hospitalized since Jan. 1. Ryder mentioned Austin’s chief of employees, Kelly Magsamen, was sick and “unable to make notifications before then.”
He mentioned she knowledgeable Hicks and the nationwide safety adviser, Jake Sullivan, on Thursday.
Once notified, Hicks started making ready statements to ship to Congress and made plans to return to Washington. Hicks was in Puerto Rico on depart however had communications tools together with her to stay in touch and had already been tasked with some secretary-level duties on Tuesday.
Biden was instructed of Austin’s medical keep on Thursday by Sullivan, in keeping with three individuals with information of the hospitalization who weren’t licensed to talk publicly and spoke to the AP on situation of anonymity.
In a press release issued Saturday night, Austin took duty for the delays in notification.
“I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better,” he mentioned, acknowledging the issues about transparency. “But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”