INFECTED

Top Pentagon Official Anthony Tata Has COVID-19

Anthony Tata assumed the duties of the undersecretary of defense for policy last week as part of a wider Pentagon shake-up.

A high-ranking Pentagon official who has been around several other Defense Department officials recently tested positive for the coronavirus, Bloomberg News reports. Ret. Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata just assumed the duties of the undersecretary of defense for policy last week as part of a wider shake-up that also saw former aides to Mike Flynn and Devin Nunes take on Defense Department leadership roles. In a statement published by CNN, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said Tata, 61, met with Lithuanian Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis last Friday and found out Thursday that Karoblis had tested positive for the coronavirus. “Mr. Tata was tested today and has tested positive for COVID-19 on two successive tests. He will isolate at home for the next 14 days in accordance with Center for Disease Control protocols,” Hoffman said. Others who met with Karoblis include Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and the secretaries of the Army, Air Force, and Navy, according to Hoffman’s statement. Tata, 61, met earlier this week with other senior officials, including Miller, Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley, who visited U.S. troops on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg.