Joe Biden and the Pentagon Come Under Fire for Secrecy Surrounding Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s Hospitalization

The Pentagon and President Joe Biden’s administration are facing intense criticism after it was revealed that they failed to disclose Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had been hospitalized and placed in intensive care, RadarOnline.com has learned.

The news came as a shock to the American public, as the information was kept under wraps for several days.

The Pentagon Press Association (PPA) expressed their concerns in a public letter, stating, “We are writing to express our significant concerns about the Defense Department’s failure to notify the public and the media about Secretary Lloyd Austin’s current hospitalization … The fact that he has been at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for four days and the Pentagon is only now alerting the public late on a Friday evening is an outrage.”

The outrage was widespread and not limited to the PPA. The Pentagon only released a brief statement on Friday evening, saying that Austin had been admitted to the hospital for complications following a recent medical procedure.

The statement did not mention that he had been in intensive care for part of his stay. This was later discovered and reported by NBC News.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks had to assume Austin's duties during his hospitalization.

Spending several days without any information about the Secretary of Defense's health and the reason for the delay in notifying the White House or Congress stirred up further anger among reporters and journalists.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr expressed her disbelief, stating, "As of tonight, I do not see a way forward for believing the Pentagon tells the truth on anything." Starr criticized the lack of transparency and called it a "huge strategic failure."

Other journalists, such as Oren Liebermann from CNN and Jennifer Griffin from Fox News, also condemned the delay in disclosing Austin's hospitalization.

Liebermann pointed out that this behavior contradicted the administration's promise of transparency, while Griffin compared it to the practices of the Chinese government.

The PPA board members, along with journalists from ABC News, the Associated Press, Breaking Defense, and Reuters, demanded accountability in a strongly worded letter. They emphasized that the public has the right to know when Cabinet members are hospitalized or unable to perform their duties. They called for a meeting with the Pentagon to discuss the situation urgently.

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