New details emerge surrounding internal Defense Department communications

New details emerged Wednesday to point that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s chief of employees, Kelly Magsamen, was conscious of her boss’ hospitalization on Tuesday final week however didn’t inform Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks.

Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder instructed reporters this delay was partly resulting from Magsamen having the flu.

A senior U.S. protection official instructed Fox News on Wednesday {that a} army assistant from Austin’s workplace notified a counterpart in Hicks’ workplace of the switch of authority to her on Jan. 2.

Then on Thursday, Jan. 4, it was Magsamen who notified the chief of employees for Hicks that Austin had been hospitalized on Monday, Jan. 1, and that his situation was bettering.

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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin seems to be on throughout a joint press convention at Israel’s Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv on Dec. 18, 2023. (Reuters/Violeta Santos Moura)

When requested by Fox News if it was senior army assistant Lt. Gen. Ron Clark who spoke to the army assistant in Hicks’ workplace on Tuesday, the senior U.S. protection official didn’t have a solution and mentioned a 30-day evaluation will cowl precisely who the army assistant was.

President Biden first discovered of Austin’s prostate most cancers on Tuesday, which was the identical day as the general public and a month after the analysis. This is regardless of the 2 talking on the cellphone on Saturday.

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center revealed Tuesday that Austin was recognized with prostate most cancers in early December and underwent a prostatectomy on Dec. 22.

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President Biden first discovered of Austin’s prostate most cancers on Tuesday, which was the identical day as the general public and a month after the analysis. (Bloomberg by way of Getty Images/AP Photo)

The hospital added that the 70-year-old recovered uneventfully from his surgical procedure and was launched the next morning. His prostate most cancers was detected early and the prognosis was “excellent,” based on the ability.

During his hospitalization, Austin transferred authority to Hicks and didn’t inform the White House nor the rationale behind the switch. The Defense Department has for days mentioned Austin was initially at Walter Reed for an “elective medical procedure,” not prostate surgical procedure.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby mentioned Tuesday that Biden was not knowledgeable of Austin’s hospitalization till final Thursday and solely discovered of the most cancers analysis on Tuesday.

Asked whether or not Biden believed the time-lapse was acceptable, Kirby mentioned it was “not optimal.”

Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder discusses Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin throughout a briefing on the Pentagon on Jan. 9, 2024. (AP/Susan Walsh)

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“For a situation like this to go as long as it did without the commander in chief knowing about it or the national security adviser knowing about it or, frankly, other leaders at the Department of Defense, that’s not the way this is supposed to happen. The president understands that,” Kirby mentioned.  

Fox News’ Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.