The 911 call for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's January 1st admission to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has been released and it shows that from the very first moment of his health emergency, his aides and staff tried to make it discreet.
"Can the ambulance not show up with lights and sirens? We're trying to remain a little subtle," said the caller, whose identity hasn't been released. The ambulance later arrived to a residence on Austin’s street in Virginia.
A 911 obtained call by @CBSNews reveals that an aide to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin asked the dispatcher to handle the emergency discreetly, and for “no lights” and “no siren.” pic.twitter.com/nrI0l1zMfF
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 17, 2024
The 911 audio file from the Fairfax County Public Safety Department was obtained through a Freedom Of Information (FOIA) request and first reported by The Daily Beast and subsequently released by CBS and others.
The whole audio exchange wherein the caller clearly doesn't want neighbors or the public for that matter to know is made all the more interesting in light of what unfolds communications-wise during the week following, in which even the White House was kept in the dark while the Pentagon chief was in the ICU for several days, as we've detailed before.
According to more details from the recording:
The 911 recording partly redacted information about Austin's medical condition, as well as his primary complaint. The recording includes a series of unredacted answers to questions from the dispatcher about his condition.
Austin didn't have chest pain, and he did feel like he was going to pass out, according to the caller's answers. The caller also said Austin was alert and hadn't vomited blood or had blood in his stool. One of the dispatcher's questions was redacted.
The caller also asked whether it was possible for the ambulance to take Austin to Walter Reed in Bethesda. The dispatcher asked the caller to let the medics know that when they arrived.
The medical episode was reportedly due to with complications resulting from earlier prostate cancer treatment, and Austin stayed in the hospital for two weeks, and now is currently said to be working from home.
The White House has meanwhile stonewalled inquiries, merely saying "we don't want this to happen" again...
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre doesn’t have the faintest idea why Biden was kept in the dark about Lloyd Austin’s cancer diagnosis and hospitalization.
— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) January 9, 2024
So much for national security. pic.twitter.com/320P6NMMb4
Austin has faced increasing calls from Congressional leaders and former defense officials to resign, given he failed to properly notify the Commander-in-Chief, also at a moment the batuib;s armed forces are involved in several hotspots from Ukraine to Syria and Iraq to the Red Sea and in the Gaza crisis.
Austin says he's taken full responsibility and "could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed"—yet has refused to resign. President Biden has at the same time said he would not accept Austin's resignation if he were to try to step down. It's a scandal that Republicans will likely seize upon going into the November election.
