Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin -- Sixth In Line for the Presidency -- Was Hospitalized for Four Days and Kept It a Secret

In almost all cases I believe in medical privacy. I don't think anyone has any duty to share their medical information with the public.

Generally.

Because there are exceptions. Like when you're in the presidential line of succession, and your office has powers over peace and war.

Apparently there is also a law requiring disclosures about incapacitation.

Lloyd Austin covered up his hospitalization and now the leftwing propaganda media is covering for him, saying he's just a "private" person.

Shitico:

Pressure is growing on Capitol Hill and within the administration for someone to lose their job.

By Lara Seligman, Alexander Ward and Connor O'Brien

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is one of the most reclusive Pentagon chiefs in recent memory. That's creating a major problem for him now.

Austin's failure to inform his most senior advisers, congressional leaders and even President Joe Biden of his hospitalization last week due to complications from a medical procedure has erupted into a controversy that's left senior White House and Pentagon officials infuriated and befuddled. Some Republicans quickly called for investigations or even for Austin to be disciplined or fired.

Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown was not informed of Austin's situation until Tuesday, the day after his hospitalization, a senior Defense Department official told POLITICO on Sunday. Even Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, who assumed some of his duties while he was in the hospital, did not know his whereabouts until Thursday, a second senior DOD official said after CNN first reported the news.

"My sense is his desire to be private about a routine medical procedure kind of backfired when it didn't go as planned," said one senior U.S. official. "He's so loyal and duty-bound. It's all just very odd."

Former and current U.S. officials who have worked with Austin say he is well-known as an introvert, shunning the cameras and keeping only a few close confidantes during his decades-long military career. As the four-star general overseeing U.S. Central Command during the Iraq drawdown, he rarely held press conferences. As defense secretary, in contrast to his predecessors, he takes only a handful of media on official travel. He has not done a press conference in the Pentagon since last July, although he regularly briefs the press during his travels.

...

The first time Austin and Biden spoke since the secretary's Monday hospitalization was Saturday evening, a senior administration official said, even as tensions in the Middle East have spiked and the war in Ukraine has intensified. The conversation followed reports, first from POLITICO, that the Pentagon boss waited three days to inform the White House that he was out of commission.

The DOD chief of staff helped cover it up, and even hid the news from the Deputy Defense Secretary who's supposed to take over Austin's duties when he's incapacitated.

While Austin entered Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Jan. 1, DOD chief of staff Kelly Magsamen didn't tell Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks -- who has occasionally assumed the duties of her boss -- or the White House of the secretary's status until Jan. 4.

...

The revelation doesn't explain the full story of the communication breakdown -- or why the White House wasn't notified. Gen. CQ Brown, the Joint Chiefs chair, was made aware of Austin's status on Tuesday but apparently didn't tell anyone. Austin also has other aides who could've informed relevant officials in Magsamen's absence.

...

Austin's job appears safe -- at least for the moment, but pressure is growing within the administration and on Capitol Hill for someone to lose their job.

...

Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, slammed the decision to keep Austin's hospital stay secret, calling it a "shocking defiance of the law." Former Vice President Mike Pence told CNN on Sunday that Austin's actions were a "dereliction of duty."

Concerns over Austin's absence are bipartisan. Though most members of Biden's party have either defended Austin or declined to comment on it, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee teamed up with his GOP counterpart to urge the Pentagon chief to provide more information.

...

"Several questions remain unanswered including what the medical procedure and resulting complications were, what the Secretary's current health status is, how and when the delegation of the Secretary's responsibilities were made, and the reason for the delay in notification to the President and Congress," the lawmakers said.

"Transparency is vitally important," they added. "Sec. Austin must provide these additional details on his health and the decision-making process that occurred in the past week as soon as possible."

Don't worry, though: It's just because he's such a private person. A cipher, in fact.

"He's a cipher," said the senior DOD official. "He lets in very, very few people, and that can be a good and bad thing."

It's as if every Biden Administration official was instructed to flood the media with the same talking point: That Austin should be excused for breaking the law because he's just such a private person.

Austin's pursuit of a low profile gelled with the Biden administration's goal to turn the focus away from the Pentagon to the State Department and National Security Council...

Austin has long tried to stay out of the spotlight.

...

Others say Austin has always been private to a fault. Even during senior-level Pentagon meetings, Austin rarely goes off script.

"In every meeting, in everything, he says nothing," said one former senior Defense Department official, who worked closely with Austin in multiple senior jobs. "In a broad variety of meetings, he keeps his own counsel and you're never going to know what he's thinking."

Have you considered the possibility that he's just a fucking dummy?

He's a very, very private person, doncha know.

A very unhealthy private person. Maybe people with multiple comorbidities should inform Congress when they're going to the hospital for any reason, huh?

Coming Soon: Politico liesplains that Hunter Biden took money from foreign oligarchs and gangsters only because, at heart, he's a person with a deep appreciation of the finer things.

posted by Disinformation Expert Ace at 12:10 PM

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