Pentagon Inspector General Says Defense Secretary Austin ‘Unnecessarily’ Increased Risks to National Security With Secret Hospital Stays

A Pentagon official insists there were no ‘gaps in authorities or operational impacts’ during Secretary Austin’s hospitalizations.

AP/Vincent Thian
The secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Singapore, June 3, 2023. AP/Vincent Thian

Defense Secretary Austin “unnecessarily” put America’s national security at risk when he made trips to the hospital for cancer treatment that were kept secret from the White House and other high-level staffers, a new report from the Pentagon’s inspector general, Robert Storch, says.

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