Pentagon Review Finds No 'Ill Intent' Behind Keeping Lloyd Austin's Hospitalization Secret

The Defense Department on Monday published an unclassified summary of an internal review on the decision to keep Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization secret, noting that nothing examined during the probe “demonstrated any indication of ill intent or an attempt to obfuscate.”

Austin’s chief of staff, Kelly Magsamen, ordered the department’s director of administration and management to launch the 30-day review to establish the facts around the transfer of authorities while Austin was hospitalized.

Another investigation by the department’s inspector general is ongoing.

The unclassified summary was published alongside a memo signed by Austin that directed the implementation of the recommendations made by the review.

Both the review and the recommendations issued are meant to help “inform internal policy deliberations regarding lessons learned and improvements to processes and procedures,” according to the summary.

Based on the review’s findings, Austin’s staff followed standard procedure to ensure that the department’s work continued while the secretary received hospital treatment.

“Their efforts, while respecting the Secretary’s privacy, combined with the uncertainty of a medical situation and its bearing on how best to execute a [transfer of authority] in the absence of an established methodology for making such an unplanned decision, may have contributed to the lack of comprehensive information sharing about the situation,” the summary stated.

From Jan. 1 to 5, Austin’s team dealt with “an unprecedented situation,” the review found, and staff executed a transfer of authority “in the same way they had previously done.”

Specifically, Austin’s staff was limited by medical privacy laws, privacy concerns, and the fact