On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” Brett Bruen, who served as Director of Global Engagement under President Barack Obama, stated that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin should resign and that should be one of “several resignations here, including his chief of staff, as well as other officials.”
Host Erin Burnett asked, “Do you think, with everything that you know and that we now understand to be the case, that Secretary Austin should resign?”
Bruen answered, “I think both he should resign, but I think there have to be several resignations here, including his chief of staff, as well as other officials. You mentioned the Pentagon spokesperson, he briefed reporters on Thursday, knowing then that Secretary Austin was in the hospital, did not disclose that information. These are not minor mistakes, Erin. These are serious breaches of trust, they’re serious breaches of transparency, and they do ultimately affect our readiness as a nation to respond.”
He added, “I think we’re facing, Erin, a credibility crisis, and as you point out, we still don’t know why he went into the hospital, why he’s still in the hospital. We also, quite frankly, have not gotten the full truth about how things went down. I think the withholding of information still by the White House, the Pentagon, this has been coming out in dribs and drabs, requires us, at this point, to have a full airing of the facts. I think there has to be a public investigation. And then we need new criteria, we need to understand going forward in the future, when do defense secretaries need to call their boss, need to call the White House and say, sir, ma’am, I’m going to be out of the office for the next few hours and the next few days?”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett