‘We’re Not Notifying Anybody’: Scathing IG Report Released On SecDef’s Medical Secrecy
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s decision not to disclose his medical issues last year “unnecessarily” increased risks to national security, the Defense Department’s Inspector General found.
Inspector General Robert Storch released a lengthy report on Wednesday, finding that Austin left his staff in the dark when he underwent multiple medical procedures from December 2023 into January 2024. At one point, Storch wrote that when Austin was hospitalized in early January that Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks was the acting secretary of defense without knowing it.
Storch said it was a “national security imperative” for the Defense Department to improve its procedures for future similar situations.
“The ability for the DoD and the government to operate seamlessly and the continuity of leadership under any and all circumstances are fundamental to our national security,” he said. “Although we found no adverse consequences to DoD operations arising from how the hospitalizations we reviewed were handled, the risks to our national defense, including the command and control of the DoD’s critical national security operations, were increased unnecessarily.”
The secrecy surrounding Austin’s medical procedures began on December 22, 2023, when he had prostatectomy at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Days later, on January 1, an ambulance took him back to the hospital after he “experienced medical complications.”
Storch wrote that Austin’s condition “worsened” on January 2, and his staff directed the transfer of authority to Hicks.
“Secretary Austin’s strong desire for privacy about his medical condition is a thread that runs through all the events that we reviewed, including in his public statements about his hospitalization,” the report found. “His desire for privacy was well known by his staff and affected many of the events at issue in various ways.”
Austin did not tell Hicks, his chief of staff, General Charles Brown, Lieutenant General Ronald Clark, his senior military assistant, and “nearly all of his staff” about his December 22 procedure, according to the report.
The only people at the DoD who knew he was going to the hospital were his Personal Security Officer (PSO) and Junior Military Assistant (JMA). Storch wrote that Austin should have informed Congress and the White House about the procedure.
When Austin was later transported to the hospital on January 1, the report found that the “weight of the evidence” showed that the defense secretary told them not to use lights or sirens and told his security officer that “we’re not notifying anybody.”
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Austin told investigators he believed he was going to be released from the hospital within a “couple of hours” and again did not tell Hicks, his chief of staff, or Clark about his hospitalization, according to the report.
Storch wrote that Austin only told his security officer to cancel his meetings for the next 48 hours, leaving everyone on his staff in the dark except his junior military assistant.
“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 (SICU) on January 2,” the report found.
Once he was moved to the surgical unit, top DoD officials learned of the situation, and authority was transferred to Hicks, Storch said.
As a result of the situation, Storch recommended 20 actions that the DoD should implement new policies that enhance communication and ensure that a similar situation doesn’t occur. The DoD has agreed to take the recommended steps, Storch said.
Last year, after the situation was widely reported, Austin held a press conference where he apologized for the incident.
“We did not handle this right, and I did not handle this right,” Austin said. “I should’ve told the president about my cancer diagnosis. I should have also told my team and the American public. And I take full responsibility. I apologize to my teammates and to the American people.”