Senior Pentagon official Anthony Tata tests positive for COVID-19
Anthony Tata, who was recently named to the Defense Department’s top policy job, has tested positive for COVID-19, the Pentagon said late Thursday.
Tata had met with Lithuania’s defense minister Raimundas Karoblis at the Pentagon on Nov. 13. Karoblis also “met with multiple senior leaders, including Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller,” Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement late Thursday.
The Lithuanian defense minister also met with the Army and Air Force secretaries. While the other leaders had tested negative in the days following the visit, Tata recorded two positive tests, the most recent being on Nov. 19.
Hoffman said Tata will isolate at home for the next two weeks.
In the days since the Lithuania visit, acting defense secretary Miller took his first official trip to visit Fort Bragg, N.C. and the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford with a small delegation of his senior civilian and military staff, including new chief of staff Kash Patel, and a handful of reporters. During the trip both Miller and his staff had their masks off at various times as they met with soldiers at Bragg and the crew of the Ford.
“We have and are continuing to conduct further contact tracing of DoD personnel who have had close contact with the Lithuanian delegation or Mr. Tata, and are taking appropriate precautions in accordance with CDC guidelines,” Hoffman said.
“Additionally, DoD personnel who had contact with the delegation have received or are receiving at this time rapid COVID tests as deemed necessary based on CDC protocols. Additional necessary testing for individuals who had contact with Mr. Tata is ongoing. We will report additional positive cases as appropriate,” Hoffman said.
It is not clear when Miller’s last positive test occurred.
Tata served as superintendent of the Wake County, North Carolina, school system from 2011 to 2012 until he was fired when the school board changed from a Republican to a Democratic majority.
Tata also served as North Carolina secretary of transportation under former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory from 2013 until his abrupt resignation in 2015.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 8:50 AM with the headline "Senior Pentagon official Anthony Tata tests positive for COVID-19."
