In a report issued on Wednesday, the Pentagon's inspector general came to the conclusion that the secrecy surrounding Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's hospitalizations in late 2023 and early 2024 "increased unnecessarily" the dangers to US national security.

Austin was hospitalized for procedures related to a prostate cancer diagnosis during three periods in late 2023 and 2024. The nearly year-long review, according to the IG, looked at over 56 million pieces of data, including text messages and classified emails, and included interviews with 44 witnesses. For days, Austin's hospital stays were concealed from the White House and senior national security officials, which raised serious concerns about communication, transparency, and the procedures for the proper notifications and authority transfers.

According to a senior defense source who discussed the story on Wednesday, Austin admitted that he had "made a mistake, he apologized, and he committed to improving transparency and processes moving forward."

"The report found that the secretary was never incapacitated while performing his duties, and there was no scandal or cover-up," the official stated. "The report also found that there were never any operational impacts or gaps in authority, nor was there ever a break in command and control."

Austin was "moderately sedated" for two medical operations on January 6 and 8, 2024, and was warned that he could need to undergo anesthesia. He was also urged not to do anything that required unimpaired mental abilities for at least 24 hours.

However, according to the study, Austin "did not transfer his authorities" at that time and failed to notify his chief of staff or Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks of the procedures.

According to the assessment, Austin was in a "severe condition" for a different treatment weeks later, but his authority was not transferred to Hicks until "several hours" after his hospitalization.

Additionally, Austin failed to promptly notify the White House and other necessary organizations that he would be handing over his authority to Hicks in December 2023 and January 2024, according to Storch and his office.

"The continuity of leadership and the seamless operation of the DoD and government under all conditions are essential to our national security," Storch stated in a statement. "The risks to our national defense, including the command and control of the DoD's critical national security operations, were increased unnecessarily, even though we found no negative effects on DoD operations resulting from the way the hospitalizations we reviewed were handled."

In a news conference last year, Austin said that he made mistakes in the way he handled his hospital stays. He explained his need for confidentiality by saying that he is a very private person and didn't want to burden anyone with his illness.

"I want to be very clear: We handled this improperly. And I handled this incorrectly. I ought to have disclosed my cancer diagnosis to the president. At the time, Austin remarked, "I accept full responsibility for not telling my team and the American people as well. "I apologize to the American people and to my teammates."

The IG discovered that Austin's need for solitude was so strong that he asked the ambulance that picked him up from his house on January 1st to avoid using lights and sirens. In addition, he made it clear to a junior employee that "if anyone had any questions, they're more than welcome to ask [me] directly," which the IG concluded was unlikely to lead to genuine inquiries into his health.

Even Kelly Magsamen, Austin's then-chief of staff, was upset that he had "gone totally dark on his staff" and that she did not know more about his illness.

According to messages the IG was able to get, Magsamen wrote to one of Austin's staffers, "I wish [Secretary Austin] were a normal person but he's the [Secretary of Defense]." "We have a significant institutional obligation. He cannot simply abandon his employees. Please let him know that his hospitalization cannot be kept a secret indefinitely. His presence in the [SICU] is somewhat significant. And I'm quite anxious.

The White House National Security Council "keeps asking me where" Austin is, Magsamen also texted Austin's aides, later adding that the White House was "pissed" over the issue.

According to the report, Magsamen wrote, "I know it's a balance between his privacy and recovery and national security but it's hitting the breaking point soon."

Expanding the number of individuals involved in decision-making in comparable circumstances and improving the information flow both inside and across agencies within DoD are two of the 20 recommendations the IG made to improve the procedures going forward. The senior defense official stated on Wednesday that the Pentagon approved all 20 proposals.