Pentagon reveals new details about defence secretary’s secretive hospital stay

The Pentagon has released new details about defence secretary Lloyd Austin’s secretive stay in hospital. It states Mr Austin underwent a medical procedure on December 22, went home a day later, and was admitted to intensive care on January 1 when he began experiencing severe pain. The latest information came as members of both parties in Congress expressed concerns about the secrecy of Mr Austin’s hospital stay and the fact that the president and other senior leaders were kept in the dark about it for days. The statement, released by Air Force Major General Pat Ryder, did not, however, provide any details about the medical procedure or what actually happened on Monday to require Mr Austin to be in intensive care at the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington DC. Hard-line House Republican Matt Rosendale (Mont.) on Monday announced plans to introduce an impeachment resolution against Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin over his failure last week to notify the White House and Congress he had been hospitalized for several days, as well as the troubled withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and the Chinese spy balloon that flew over parts of the country last year.