It’s hard to believe that the scandal surrounding Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin could get any worse, but it’s starting to look that way.
Austin’s hospitalization was such a closely guarded secret that for roughly four or five days that neither Congress nor the White House had any idea Austin was missing, and Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks didn’t know that Austin was in intensive care.
His secret hospitalization exposed a lack of regular communication between Joe Biden and his Defense Secretary amid the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Biden was reportedly unaware of Austin's hospitalization for four days — a ridiculously long time for the two men to go without speaking to each other, and I speculate that it was probably longer than that.
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Then there was the curiosity of Austin’s reported ambulance ride from his residence to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. How did nobody know that on New Year’s Day, an ambulance had gone to his home and taken him there? Now we know.
According to a report from The Daily Beast, one of Austin’s aides specifically requested that the ambulance make a subtle arrival at Austin’s residence.
“Can I ask — can the ambulance not show up with lights and sirens? Uhm, we’re trying to remain a little subtle,” the aide said according to a recording of the 911 call that The Daily Beast obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
The dispatcher responded that the ambulance could do that, noting that “usually when they turn into a residential neighborhood, they'll turn them off.” She added that the ambulance is required by law to run the sirens and lights on main streets, such as Georgetown Pike and Leesburg Pike.
The audio of the call, which has not previously been reported, reveals new details about the Secretary of Defense’s emergency, and suggests that the effort to keep his ailment secret was well-known among his close aides.
Although the Secretary of Defense kept the incident a secret from the public and from U.S. President Joe Biden and other senior administration officials, it was revealed last week that he had received surgery in December to treat and cure prostate cancer. He eventually went to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after experiencing medical complications on Jan. 1.
It is not clear who asked the aide to request the ambulance dispatchers attempt to fly under the radar, or if the aide acted of his own accord. The Pentagon did not immediately return a request for comment.
The identity of the caller has been redacted to protect personal information, according to the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications. The department redacted other personal and health information from the call as well.
In other words, Austin’s inner circle conspired to keep this a secret from the beginning. That’s a pretty big deal. But it also reveals new information about Austin’s condition at the time of the incident. Based on the call, Austin experienced no chest pain and remained alert during the incident.
An aide confirmed that Austin neither passed out nor felt like he was going to. The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center disclosed that Austin had been dealing with symptoms such as nausea and severe abdominal, hip, and leg pain. Further examination revealed a urinary tract infection and impaired small intestine functioning.
Why did Austin's aides want his hospitalization kept a secret? What were they hoping to accomplish?
I can't explain it, but I do know it not only exposed the systemic lack of transparency of the Biden administration but also the utter incompetence of Joe Biden, who has long tried to claim that he's running the show but had no idea his Secretary of Defense was in the hospital.
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