U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka’s office was “totally unaware” of the seriousness of Daniel Inouye’s condition, according to an official there.

Akaka Press Secretary Jesse Broder Van Dyke told Civil Beat on Tuesday (Dec. 18) that the belief was that Inouye was in relatively stable condition while at Walter Reed Hospital.

The only inkling that something was amiss came Sunday night, Broder Van Dyke said, when Inouye’s people released a statement at 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time saying that the senator was having respiratory complications. 

“We had no idea that he was that sick,” Broder Van Dyke said.

The fact that Inouye’s condition was guarded from Akaka — the man with whom he had served with in the senate for decades — further exemplifies the closely guarded nature of Inouye’s health leading up to his death.

—Nick Grube with Nate Thayer reporting from Washington, D.C.