Recently Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin returned to the Pentagon after what was a mystery absence at the beginning of the year and reportedly the White House was not informed:
On Jan. 1, he was taken by ambulance to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after experiencing extreme pain and was admitted to the intensive care unit. He stayed there for two weeks but didn't inform the White House or his deputy that he had cancer, had surgery or had been taken back to the hospital and put in intensive care until days later. He told President Joe Biden and other key leaders about his diagnosis only after he'd been in the hospital more than a week.
Austin's lack of disclosure has prompted changes in federal guidelines and has triggered an internal Pentagon review and an inspector general review into his department's notification procedures. Both reviews are ongoing.
Today, Austin had a press conference and tried to explain why he wasn't reprimanded or relieved of duty:
REPORTER: "Anyone else within the military chain of command would've faced reprimand or even dismissal. Why shouldn't that same standard apply to you?"
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 1, 2024
AUSTIN: "Thanks for the question." pic.twitter.com/FghV7sFLLr
Also, why didn't Austin inform Biden and the White House? His answer is laughable:
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Defense Sec. Austin admits that it was a "mistake" not to inform Pres. Biden of his cancer diagnosis earlier, says he didn't want to add more to what the president already has "on his plate."
— ABC News (@ABC) February 1, 2024
"I should have done that differently." https://t.co/uMz0DP1leN pic.twitter.com/x0vWBOet46
Keep in mind all this was going on while Houthi terrorists were attacking U.S. personnel overseas and Biden was on vacation in St. Croix, where apparently there was so much on his plate that Austin didn't think he needed to know.
Here’s the thing, it was so easy to handle this the right way. It was not hard, at all. https://t.co/bLcF2V1Kiw
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) February 1, 2024
It's the same thing with border security and several other issues, but they just won't do it.
“We didn’t this right and I take full responsibility.”
— Randy Barnett (@randybarnettttt) February 1, 2024
Yet here he is. No repercussions. Zero. https://t.co/9Y2lVvzA6J
He does not dispute the fact that such behavior would get any other soldier kicked out. He avoids the question with his answer. https://t.co/WyuWA8pOM4
— The Rule 5 Texan (@Rule5Tweets) February 1, 2024
"Rules for thee but not for me." We've seen a lot of that.
His accountability for this heinous dereliction of duty is a press conference. Austin says he didn't tell Biden because Biden has too much on his plate already. He should be removed from his position of power.
— Anthony Walker (@Anthony71008104) February 1, 2024
Nobody in this administration is ever held accountable for anything, up to and including the disastrous, deadly and incompetent withdrawal from Afghanistan.
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