Defense secretary Pete Hegseth moved on Friday to dramatically curtail press access inside the Pentagon, seemingly punishing the news media for reporting on leaks of classified and unclassified information in recent weeks.
The changes, announced in a two-page memo issued by Hegseth, effectively boxed credentialed reporters into one corner on one floor of the building that houses the press office and spaces used by news organizations.
To walk anywhere else in the Pentagon, including past areas occupied by the joint chiefs and the press office for the joint chiefs, reporters will need to request permission and be escorted by an official, the memo said.
Reporters will also be banned from accessing the Pentagon Athletic Center and be issued new credentials which more clearly state the words “PRESS” on the badge. The current credential has the letters written in regular size at the bottom.
Hegseth said in the memo that he was adding the most draconian access restrictions in decades in order to limit the number of leaks coming from the Pentagon.
“No More Trans @ DoD,” Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, posted after the supreme court...
