‘I can’t answer that’: Sec Def Austin dodges on who was behind keeping Americans in dark about illness

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin would not answer who was behind the decision to not inform the American people about his illness during a Thursday hearing.

Austin did not disclose his January hospitalization, sparking anger and worries regarding a breakdown in control over the Department of Defense (DOD). Republican Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida pressed Austin about who made the decision in the department not to disclose it to the public, but the secretary of defense neglected to answer, saying he did not know if a decision had been made at all.

WATCH:

“Who made the decision for [the assistant secretary for public affairs] to not inform the American people?” Waltz asked.

“I can’t answer that,” Austin responded.

An internal 30-day review found that the secretary of defense’s authorities were transferred to his deputy without a pause in command over the Pentagon once Austin was admitted to the hospital on Jan. 1 and moved to the critical care unit on Jan. 2, where he had no access to secure communications.

“Did the assistant secretary for public affairs make the decision?” Waltz asked, to which Austin started stammering in response.

“You just had a 30-day review,” Waltz continued. “You don’t know who made the decision to not tell the American people?”

“I know that he was aware on the second [of January],” Austin said. “I don’t know what decision-making process … I’m not sure that there was a decision to not inform the public.”

An unclassified summary of the Pentagon’s internal review, disclosed Monday, denied there was any purposeful cover-up of Austin’s illness or hospitalization. Privacy laws and Austin’s uncertain medical circumstance prompted confusion among staff regarding how to manage his emergency hospitalization, it said.

Republican Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana told Austin he “embarrassed” the United States during his four minutes of questioning at the hearing.

“Our adversaries should fear us. And what you’ve done is embarrassed us,” Banks said.

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