When it was first reported on Saturday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been in the hospital since January 1, it was natural to assume that key figures in the Pentagon and the White House, for whatever reason, chose to keep his hospitalization a secret. What possible motive could there be for doing this? Who knows? It didn’t make a lot of sense, but the Biden administration has an extensive record of covering up scandals, so it wasn’t exactly out of character for the Biden administration to cover something up.
The truth that has been coming out over the course of the day suggests something far, far worse. According to the latest reports, not even the White House knew about Lloyd’s hospitalization.
“Senior Biden administration leaders, top Pentagon officials and members of Congress were unaware for days that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had been hospitalized since Monday, U.S. officials said Saturday, as questions swirled about his condition and the secrecy surrounding it,” the Associated Press reported. “The Pentagon did not inform the White House National Security Council or top adviser Jake Sullivan of Austin’s hospitalization at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, until Thursday, according to two administration officials.”
That’s bad. Really bad. And it gets worse.
A source familiar with the situation told CNN that not even Joe Biden knew.
“National security adviser Jake Sullivan ultimately informed Biden late Thursday afternoon, soon after Sullivan himself learned that Austin had been hospitalized, that source said. Austin was admitted to the hospital on New Year’s Day due to complications from an elective surgery,” CNN reported.
Let’s think about this for a minute. Joe Biden, who is supposed to be the commander in chief, didn’t know for four days that his own defense secretary, a member of his cabinet, was in the hospital. Now, considering what’s going on in the world right now—the Israel-Hamas war, the Houthi attacks on container ships in the Red Sea, and many other things—how is it possible that Biden isn’t talking to his defense secretary daily? Sure, he has time to give speeches about how Donald Trump is a threat to democracy, but he didn’t even know his defense secretary was incapacitated for days?
For our VIPs: Here’s a Long List of the Biden Administration’s Scandalous Cover-Ups
And does anyone think it’s a coincidence that the Pentagon waited to reveal Austin’s hospitalization on Friday, really, really close to Biden’s big speech? Was someone hoping this wouldn’t get noticed?
The Pentagon claimed that Austin “was prepared to act for and exercise the powers of the Secretary, if required,” at all times he was hospitalized, but according to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, Austin was in the intensive care unit, suggesting that his condition was more serious than the Pentagon had let on.
Secretary Austin released a statement accepting responsibility for the lack of transparency.
“I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better,” Austin said. “But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.”
Before I go any further, let’s make something very clear: This doesn’t absolve the White House or Joe Biden one bit. As the above report pointed out, the White House found out on Thursday and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told Biden that afternoon. It wasn’t until late Friday that the Pentagon revealed Austin’s hospitalization. So the White House knew for a day about Austin’s hospitalization and said nothing.