Kelly Magsamen was a close adviser to the defense secretary but was mired in controversy after not informing the White House that he had been hospitalized.
By Dan Lamothe, The Washington PostDefense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon on Monday, May 20, 2024, in Washington.
Austin called her “the chief architect of every initiative I have launched.” His statement did not indicate why Magsamen, who was traveling with Austin in France on Wednesday, was leaving. Attempts to reach her for comment were not successful. At the time, the Pentagon said not even Magsamen had been told about Austin’s cancer diagnosis and surgery. But it later acknowledged that when she and a handful of other top officials did learn Jan. 2 that there were complications and that he had been hospitalized in critical condition, they waited to make the appropriate notifications.
Mollie Halpern, a spokeswoman for the inspector general, said the review is ongoing and that the office would not provide a timeline for its completion “to protect the integrity of the investigative process.” “I want to be crystal clear: We did not handle this right. I did not handle this right,” Austin said then. “I should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. I should have also told my team and the American public, and I take full responsibility. I apologize to my teammates and the American people.”
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