US judge rules Pentagon has violated his order in press access case | Media
A federal judge on Thursday ruled that the Pentagon failed to comply with an order last month that eliminated most of a restrictive new press pass policy implemented by the Defense Department and ordered the return of credentials to seven New York Times reporters.
The newspaper, which sued the Trump administration in December, had called on the judge to force implementation of his March 20 decision after the Pentagon responded to the judge’s decision by creating a new press access policy, which the newspaper called the “final phase” of the judge’s ruling. The Pentagon also announced the closure of the work area known as the “Reporters Corridor.”
District court judge Paul Friedman specifically rejected the new Pentagon regulation requiring journalists to be escorted into the building, as well as language addressing what the administration called “encouragement of unauthorized disclosure.”
At the hearing on March 30, the judge was skeptical of the Pentagon’s new policies, finding some aspects of these policies “bizarre” and Kafkaesque.
“Imposing these standards and restrictions on access to the Pentagon [press pass] Their holdings constitute the continued implementation and enforcement of the provisions of the previous regulations of the ministry. [press pass] “This court rescinded the policy and barred the defendants from enforcing it,” the judge wrote on Thursday. While the credentials of the New York Times journalists were reinstated, the judge ruled that the Pentagon had failed to truly “reinstate” the privileges of obtaining a pass because of the additional escort requirement.
Last fall, the vast majority of Pentagon press pass holders walked out of the building rather than sign a new policy preventing the “collection” of unauthorized information that many news organizations felt impeded journalism. In changing the language of the new press policy, the judge wrote: “The Department cannot reinstate an illegal policy under the guise of taking ‘new’ action and expect the court to look the other way.”
While the Trump administration set up a new press work area on Pentagon grounds and provided work space in a library for Times reporters and other pass holders, including a large contingent of Trump-friendly conservative media influencers, the judge ruled that the administration had defied itself by closing the existing space.
“The court’s decision requires the department to restore plaintiffs’ access to the Pentagon,” he wrote. “Instead of complying with this order, the Ministry cut off all connections. [press pass] owners have meaningful access to the Pentagon.”
At the end of his ruling, the judge reaffirmed his belief that the Pentagon was trying to block news critical of the administration and defense secretary Pete Hegseth: “The court cannot reach this opinion without stating once again what this case is really about: an attempt by the secretary of defense to dictate the information received by the American public, to control the message so that the public hears and sees only what the secretary and the Trump administration want them to hear and see. The Constitution demands better. The American people demand better, too.”
The judge ordered the Trump administration to submit a status report on or before April 16 “describing the steps taken to ensure compliance with this order.”
“This decision is a powerful affirmation of both the court’s authority and the First Amendment’s protection of independent journalism,” Theodore J Boutrous Jr, who represented the New York Times in the case, told the Guardian.
It’s not yet clear how the judge’s decision will affect other journalists who have opted to return their press badges rather than sign the Pentagon’s new access policy.
