Pentagon has given a clean chit to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin over his secret hospitalisations related to his cancer diagnosis. In a three-page concluding report released on Monday (Feb 26), the Pentagon said it found no "indication of ill intent or an attempt to obfuscate" by Austin or his staff.

Pentagon gives clean chit to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on secret hospitalisations

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has been released from hospital and resumed his duties, informed the Pentagon on Tuesday (Feb 13). Austin was admitted to the critical care unit at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Sunday (Feb 11) where he underwent treatment for bladder issues connected to his prostate cancer battle.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin released from hospital, resumes work: Pentagon

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has been hospitalised at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center yet again due to an “emergent bladder issue”, the Pentagon said in a statement on Sunday (Feb 11).

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hospitalised again, hands over charge to deputy

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin went to great lengths to keep his hospitalisation a secret from the top brass in Washington, if a 911 call from his aide is any indication.

Llyod Austin's aide wanted no ambulance sirens, lights during medical emergency, 911 call reveals

Controversy erupted over U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin's delayed disclosure of his hospitalisation last week. Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers questioned the communication breakdown and asked why key figures like president Joe Biden as well as Deputy Defence Secretary Kathleen Hicks were not immediately informed about Austin's hospitalisation. Watch this video for more.

Gravitas: Biden kept in the dark about US Defence Secretary's hospitalisation | Scandal erupts

According to two defence officials, the deputy secretary of defence did not even realize that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had been hospitalized when she started taking on some of his duties on January 2. Until Thursday, three days after the secretary checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center due to complications from an elective surgery, senior leaders, including Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, the Pentagon's second-in-command, were kept in the dark about Austin's actual location. As previously reported in news, Austin was hospitalized for three days before even the president learned of it.

Donald Trump calls for Lloyd Austin's removal over his secret hospitalisation

According to two defense officials, the deputy secretary of defense did not even realize that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had been hospitalized when she started taking on some of his duties on January 2. Until Thursday, three days after the secretary checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center due to complications from an elective surgery, senior leaders, including Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, the Pentagon's second-in-command, were kept in the dark about Austin's actual location. As previously reported by CNN, Austin was hospitalized for three days before even the president learned of it.

US defense secretary Lloyd Austin's secret hospitalization: All you need to know

White House not told for days defence secretary Lloyd Austin in hospital