By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -An investigation released on Wednesday into U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s secret 2024 hospitalization found his desire for privacy drove notification failures inside the government, and that he took medication that could have affected his cognitive functions while still in sole command.
Austin’s hospitalization due to complications from prostate cancer surgery was kept secret for days, including from U.S. President Joe Biden and even Austin’s deputy, Kathleen Hicks. His secrecy triggered a political uproar, and calls from now President-elect Donald Trump for him to be fired.
“Secretary Austin received several different medications during the morning of January 2 that had the potential to affect cognitive functions,” the Pentagon’s independent Inspector General wrote.
Austin’s authorities were not transferred to Hicks until 2:22 p.m. on Jan. 2, according to the report. She did not learn he was hospitalized until Jan. 4, the report said.
The Pentagon had previously denied he was under any medications that could have impacted his judgment before a transfer of authority. Spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder said on Jan. 9: “I have no indications (of) anything that would affect his decision making.”
The Inspector General’s report does not make a medical evaluation about whether Austin was mentally capable of carrying out his responsibilities. Based on its evaluation of records, it said: “We found no clear evidence that Secretary Austin experienced severe cognitive impairments.”
A senior U.S. defense official who briefed reporters after the report was released declined to give details on what medication Austin was given and what time they were administered on Jan. 2.
The official did not have evidence that Austin was not incapacitated.
“I can’t prove the reverse hypothetical, but all I can say was he was able to, and did, carry out his duties and responsibilities and functions while he was at Walter Reed,” the official said.
The report found that Austin failed to meet requirements under The Federal Vacancies Reform Act to notify the U.S. government about his incapacitation during his 2024 hospitalization, as well as during a 2023 hospitalization for prostate cancer surgery he kept secret from his staff.
The public was only notified of Austin’s hospitalization on Jan. 5.
At one point on Jan. 3, Kelly Magsamen, Austin’s chief of staff, sent a text message published in the report that expressed frustration that much of the government had been kept in the dark.
“I wish [Secretary Austin] were a normal person but he’s the [Secretary of Defense]. We have a big institutional responsibility. He can’t just go totally dark on his staff. … Please pass to him that we can’t keep his hospitalization a secret forever. It’s kind of big deal for him to be in the [SICU]. And I’m worried sick,” Magsamen wrote.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Hugh Lawson and Mark Porter)
