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A Montana Republican filed an article of impeachment Tuesday against Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for “providing aid” to America’s enemies.
Mr. Austin has been under fire after he left the Pentagon reeling for the last week as he was hospitalized without letting his colleagues or the White House know.
But Rep. Matt Rosendale’s article of impeachment harkens back to last year, when a Chinese high-altitude balloon coasted across the U.S. unimpeded.
The congressman says Mr. Austin failed in his duty to defend the U.S. against that incursion, and must be ousted for it.
“Lloyd James Austin III, in his conduct as Secretary of Defense, has acted contrary to the trust and duty of an Officer of the United States and has degraded the honor of the United States by providing aid to its enemies,” the article of impeachment reads.
Impeachment fever is sweeping through House Republicans, who are already pursuing a case against President Biden and on Wednesday will hold the first hearing in impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Mr. Rosendale says Mr. Austin, a former general granted a special dispensation in 2021 to serve as the top civilian in the Defense Department, “degraded the honor of the United States” by letting the Chinese balloon hover, potentially gathering intelligence on U.S. military installations.
The congressman said Mr. Austin and the Biden administration tried to cover up the balloon, but citizens reported seeing it, ruining the government’s secrecy plans.
The article of impeachment does not mention Mr. Austin’s latest troubles over his absence.
Since Jan. 1, he has been recovering in a hospital for complications from prostate cancer surgery. The cancer — and indeed Mr. Austin’s absence — weren’t communicated to the White House, and his deputy secretary wasn’t even initially told why she was put in temporary charge last week.
She learned about her boss’s hospitalization on Jan. 4.
The White House has demanded a full accounting of procedures to try to figure out how Mr. Austin’s absence went unreported, and to try to prevent a repeat with any Cabinet official going forward.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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