Federal judge finds Pentagon is violating court order to restore access to reporters
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled Thursday that the Defense Department violated its earlier order to restore journalists’ access to the Pentagon; This was a setback in the administration’s efforts to curb the work of journalists.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman appeared alongside The New York Times second time in a month. He has previously said the Pentagon’s new identity policy violates journalists’ constitutional rights to free speech and due process. On Thursday, he said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s team was trying to evade the March 20 order by imposing new rules banning all reporters from the building unless directed by escorts.
“The Department cannot reinstate an illegal policy under the guise of taking ‘new’ action and expect the court to turn a blind eye,” Friedman wrote.
Friedman had He gave orders to Pentagon officials He stressed that this decision, which demanded the return of press credentials of seven Times reporters, applied to “all regulated parties”. The Pentagon building serves as the headquarters of US military operations.
Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell said he disagreed with the decision and planned to appeal. Parnell said in a social media post that the department had “always” complied with the judge’s orders, returned the journalists’ credentials and issued “a materially revised policy that addresses every concern” identified by the judge.
“The Department remains committed to providing access to the Pentagon while meeting its legal obligation to ensure the safe and secure operation of the Pentagon Reservation,” he wrote.
Times attorney Theodore Boutrous said Thursday’s decision “is a powerful affirmation of both the Court’s authority and the First Amendment’s protection of independent journalism.”
A dispute that has been growing since October
Reporters from mainstream news sources in October went out Instead of accepting the new rules. Times He filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon and Hegseth in December to challenge the policy.
President Donald Trump has taken on the press at various levels since returning to his second term, suing The Times and the Wall Street Journal and cutting funding to public radio and television because he didn’t like their reporting. He also frequently speaks to the media and answers reporters who call him on his cell phone.
In a series of briefings on the Iran War, Hegseth focused on questions from friendly conservative media while often ignoring or insulting old media reporters who were allowed to cover the events.
Lawyers for the Times accused the Pentagon of violating “both the letter and spirit” of the judge’s March 20 order with its revised policy. The Pentagon also sought to impose unprecedented rules governing when reporters can offer anonymity to sources, the newspaper said.
The access the Pentagon is giving permit holders “is not even as meaningful as the broad access they had before,” Friedman said.
Government lawyers said the Pentagon’s revised policy was fully consistent with the judge’s directives. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the administration would appeal Friedman’s March 20 decision.
The Pentagon Press Association, which includes Associated Press reporters, said the Pentagon’s interim policy preserves provisions Friedman found unconstitutional while also imposing new restrictions on driver’s license holders.
“Actually” Ministry of Justice lawyers wrote“Plaintiffs ask this Court to expand the Order to prohibit the Department from addressing Pentagon security through a press authentication policy with terms that would address issues or concerns similar to those ordered. The Order does not say that, and this Court should not read it to say that.”
Current Pentagon press corps agrees to policy
The current Pentagon press corps consists mostly of conservative outlets that accept this policy. Journalists in media outlets that refused to consent to the new rules, including the AP, continuous reporting From outside the Pentagon to the military.
Friedman, who was nominated for the bench by Democratic President Bill Clinton, said recent U.S. military operations in Venezuela and Iran underscore the need for public access to information about government activities.
“The framers of the First Amendment believed that the security of the nation requires a free press and an informed people, and that this security is compromised by government suppression of political speech. This principle has protected the security of the nation for nearly 250 years. It must no longer be abandoned,” the judge wrote last month.
Friedman said the challenged policy was clearly designed to weed out “disliked journalists” and replace them with those “who are in management and willing to serve.”
“This,” he wrote, “is viewpoint discrimination, full stop.”
