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Yesterday, House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) sent Austin — who was just released from the hospital on Monday — a letter “inviting” the Secretary to testify before the Armed Services Committee in a couple weeks, on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14). The letter also identified 20 still unanswered questions about the Secretary’s special holiday, and asked for four categories of documents.

You may recall that I predicted there would be Congressional hearings over Austin’s AWOL vacation. But in its first paragraph, Representative Rogers’ letter mentions a recent phone call with Austin, so it seems likely he’s alive, at least. So that’s good, and one mystery may be cleared up.

The story isn’t going away. Thursday’s news followed Wednesday’s leak of Austin’s original 911 call. A Washington Post headline explained, “Lloyd Austin’s aide requested ‘subtle’ ambulance approach in 911 call.” The Daily Beast, which still has reporters and hasn’t gone full AI yet, got ahold of the emergency audio from local police. In the call, an unidentified Austin aid can be heard clearly requesting, "Can the ambulance not show up with lights and sirens? We're trying to remain a little subtle.”

No doubt. In other words, there was a conspiracy to conceal Austin’s condition from the beginning. But why? Who were they hiding it from? Biden? Someone or something else?

And, isn’t it fascinating that, for whatever reason, Austin lacks narrative protection, and corporate media is mercilessly magnifying the story of the Secretary’s disappearance, which is provoking painful political responses. Could there be some kind of intelligence agencies versus military thing playing out in the media?