Defense Secretary Hegseth, bedeviled by leaks, orders more restrictions on press at Pentagon, "remains committed to transparency"

essentialsaltes · May 25, 2025

Bedeviled by leaks to the media during his short tenure, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a series of restrictions on the press late Friday that include banning reporters from entering wide swaths of the Pentagon without a government escort — areas where the press has had access in past administrations as it covers the activities of the world’s most powerful military.

The Pentagon has held one press briefing during Trump 2.0 and removed several press offices from the building. Hegseth has never spoken to the press in the Pentagon briefing room.

Aryeh Jay · May 25, 2025

The mandatory Bible study is transparent.

Always in His Presence · May 25, 2025

I thought he was being replaced.

Always in His Presence · May 25, 2025

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Joint Press Conference With Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in Tokyo

https://www.defense.gov/

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Press Conference Following NATO Ministers of Defense Meeting in Brussels, Belgium

https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4066734/secretary-of-defense-pete-hegseth-press-conference-following-nato-ministers-of/

essentialsaltes · Jun 1, 2025

Freedom of the press or favor for Pete Hegseth? MAGA Pentagon reporter fired after scathing commentary

Gabrielle Cuccia, a MAGA Pentagon reporter for OAN, lost her job not long after she publicly criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for limiting press access.

For a brief period, Cuccia served as the lead Pentagon correspondent for One America News, or OAN for short, a small and fervently Trump-supporting television network, as per a report by CNN.

She called the Defense Department's recent decision to bar journalists from accessing large areas of the Pentagon a "troubling shift" in a post on her personal Substack account on Tuesday. She questioned the Defense Department's justification for the limitations.

She also asked why Hegseth hasn't given any official press conferences [at the Pentagon] since taking office.

According to her LinkedIn page, Cuccia worked in the Trump White House in 2017 and 2018 before reporting from the White House for OAN and then working as a contractor for a number of years.

Pommer · Jun 1, 2025

essentialsaltes said:
Freedom of the press or favor for Pete Hegseth? MAGA Pentagon reporter fired after scathing commentary
Gabrielle Cuccia, a MAGA Pentagon reporter for OAN, lost her job not long after she publicly criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for limiting press access.

For a brief period, Cuccia served as the lead Pentagon correspondent for One America News, or OAN for short, a small and fervently Trump-supporting television network, as per a report by CNN.

She called the Defense Department's recent decision to bar journalists from accessing large areas of the Pentagon a "troubling shift" in a post on her personal Substack account on Tuesday. She questioned the Defense Department's justification for the limitations.

She also asked why Hegseth hasn't given any official press conferences [at the Pentagon] since taking office.

According to her LinkedIn page, Cuccia worked in the Trump White House in 2017 and 2018 before reporting from the White House for OAN and then working as a contractor for a number of years.

So, she’s “lost face”?

essentialsaltes · Sep 20, 2025

EVEN MOAR TRANSPARENCY
Given the timing, it's not a stretch to deduce that they absolutely were considering using Charlie Kirk for recruitment purposes.
"Culture Warriors Wanted"

Hegseth unveils new restrictions on Pentagon press access

Reporters who decline to agree to the terms or are found violating the rules would lose access to the building, the memo states.

The document sent to press outlets also notes: "DoW [Department of War] information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified."

The new rules take effect next week, impacting reporters in waves depending upon when their current badges expire. If reporters reject the rules, it appears to be the first time in history that major national news outlets would lose their 24-7 access to unclassified spaces in the Pentagon.

According to the new rules, the head of the Pentagon police "shall deny, revoke, or refuse to renew the PFAC of any person reasonably determined to pose a security or safety risk to DoW (Department of War) personnel or property."

Starr, who began covering the Defense Department during Operation Desert Storm, said it wasn't clear from the policy exactly what criteria would be used by Hegseth's office to pull someone's pass.

"Everyone understands possession of classified information poses legal jeopardy," Starr said. "But it's the responsibility of the officials who journalists speak to, to say, 'I can't talk about that. It's classified.'"

The Pentagon Press Association said it was aware of the new directive regarding badge access and was reviewing it.

Pommer · Sep 20, 2025

essentialsaltes said:
EVEN MOAR TRANSPARENCY
Given the timing, it's not a stretch to deduce that they absolutely were considering using Charlie Kirk for recruitment purposes.
"Culture Warriors Wanted"

Hegseth unveils new restrictions on Pentagon press access
Reporters who decline to agree to the terms or are found violating the rules would lose access to the building, the memo states.

The document sent to press outlets also notes: "DoW [Department of War] information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified."

The new rules take effect next week, impacting reporters in waves depending upon when their current badges expire. If reporters reject the rules, it appears to be the first time in history that major national news outlets would lose their 24-7 access to unclassified spaces in the Pentagon.

According to the new rules, the head of the Pentagon police "shall deny, revoke, or refuse to renew the PFAC of any person reasonably determined to pose a security or safety risk to DoW (Department of War) personnel or property."

Starr, who began covering the Defense Department during Operation Desert Storm, said it wasn't clear from the policy exactly what criteria would be used by Hegseth's office to pull someone's pass.

"Everyone understands possession of classified information poses legal jeopardy," Starr said. "But it's the responsibility of the officials who journalists speak to, to say, 'I can't talk about that. It's classified.'"

The Pentagon Press Association said it was aware of the new directive regarding badge access and was reviewing it.

Suit will be filed by Tuesday.

essentialsaltes · Sep 22, 2025

Journalists and free press advocates have criticised the new restrictions. The National Press Club’s president, Mike Balsamo, saying: “This is a direct assault on independent journalism at the very place where independent scrutiny matters most: the US military.

“If the news about our military must first be approved by the government, then the public is no longer getting independent reporting. It is getting only what officials want them to see. That should alarm every American.”

The president faced questions about the directive as he departed the White House for Charlie Kirk’s memorial service on Sunday. Asked whether the Pentagon should be in charge of deciding what reporters can report on, Trump said: “No, I don’t think so.”

essentialsaltes · Sep 24, 2025

‘A Bridge Too Far’: Fox’s Jonathan Turley Shreds the Pentagon’s New Press Restrictions

This is actually quite breathtaking in terms of its implications for the free press. There is no precedent for what they’re doing here. This measure is simply a bridge too far. It really does raise core press protections and it would devastate the press corps in the Pentagon.

Anchor Bret Baier responded, “I covered the Pentagon for six-and-a-half years and I walked all over those 19-and-a-half miles of corridor in the Pentagon talking to all kinds of officials. If officials came to us and said there is a national security imperative here that this story not come out, we would obviously talk to our supervisors, but for the most part people who covered the Pentagon knew the security implications and the danger of possibly putting people’s lives at risk if any sort of classified story or story that could put them in jeopardy happened, and it was dealt with.”

essentialsaltes · 2025-11-04T17:38:26-0600

Laura Loomer is now an accredited journalist at the Pentagon.

wing2000 · 2025-11-04T17:59:10-0600

essentialsaltes said:
Laura Loomer is now an accredited journalist at the Pentagon.

.....accredited by whom?

essentialsaltes · 2025-11-04T18:07:08-0600

wing2000 said:
.....accredited by whom?

I should have written credentialed. She has (allegedly) signed the restrictive Pentagon rules for journalists to obtain access to the Pentagon, joining the likes of the Gateway Pundit and LindellTV, while most journalists have turned up their noses at the restrictions on press freedom.

I'm assuming she's an 'independent journalist' rather than part of any particular 'news' outfit.

Aryeh Jay · 2025-11-05T03:34:40-0600

Part of a free and honest non biased press, unlike the hate America lamestream propaganda press pushing their agenda. Refreshing to be getting facts after so long.

Always in His Presence · 2025-11-05T08:28:13-0600

Pommer said:
Suit will be filed by Tuesday.

Was it?

essentialsaltes · 2025-11-05T08:56:20-0600

Always in His Presence said:
Was it?

The rules proposed in September (that inspired Pommer's comment) would appear to be a clear violation of the Supreme Court's ban on prior restraint.

After talks, the Pentagon backed down on that, and issued different rules in October putting the onus on DoD staff. Not clear yet if the new 'relaxed' rules will draw legal action.

The path to Wednesday’s evictions began on September 18, when the Department of War, as Hegseth, a former Fox News reporter, has started calling it, issued a memo requiring journalists to submit their reporting to the Pentagon Press Office before publication. That directive was at odds with decades of practice and key legal precedents, including the 1971 Supreme Court ruling that rejected prior restraint and enabled the continued publication of the Pentagon Papers. “Any time you are required to submit something for a review by a governmental entity, that’s a prior restraint,” Jane Kirtley, a professor of media law at the University of Minnesota, said.

The Pentagon Press Association and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press engaged in extensive talks with the Pentagon Press Office, which led to revisions. Under an updated policy issued October 6, DoD personnel, not reporters, would be required to get approval before sharing information, in line with long-standing military practice. While the New York Times headlined its story about the revised policy “Pentagon Relaxes Press Access Rules,” reporters continued to describe the guidelines as “unsignable.”

Legal experts said media outlets might be able to challenge the new rules in court. The Associated Press sued several White House officials in February, claiming they violated the First Amendment when they restricted AP reporters’ access after the agency refused to call the Gulf of Mexico by the administration’s preferred name, the “Gulf of America.” The AP won, but an appeals court issued a stay, so the ruling is on hold.

The new policy asserts that the Pentagon is “committed to transparency to promote accountability and public trust,” [but Hegseth's] jubilation at the departures has been clear on X, where he has shared statements from the Times, the Washington Post, and The Atlantic with a waving emoji, along with an AI-generated image of a crying baby wearing an Atlantic T-shirt.

Say it aint so · 2025-11-05T11:28:04-0600

essentialsaltes said:
EVEN MOAR TRANSPARENCY
Given the timing, it's not a stretch to deduce that they absolutely were considering using Charlie Kirk for recruitment purposes.
"Culture Warriors Wanted"

Hegseth unveils new restrictions on Pentagon press access
Reporters who decline to agree to the terms or are found violating the rules would lose access to the building, the memo states.

The document sent to press outlets also notes: "DoW [Department of War] information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified."

The new rules take effect next week, impacting reporters in waves depending upon when their current badges expire. If reporters reject the rules, it appears to be the first time in history that major national news outlets would lose their 24-7 access to unclassified spaces in the Pentagon.

According to the new rules, the head of the Pentagon police "shall deny, revoke, or refuse to renew the PFAC of any person reasonably determined to pose a security or safety risk to DoW (Department of War) personnel or property."

Starr, who began covering the Defense Department during Operation Desert Storm, said it wasn't clear from the policy exactly what criteria would be used by Hegseth's office to pull someone's pass.

"Everyone understands possession of classified information poses legal jeopardy," Starr said. "But it's the responsibility of the officials who journalists speak to, to say, 'I can't talk about that. It's classified.'"

The Pentagon Press Association said it was aware of the new directive regarding badge access and was reviewing it.

Speaking of Pete, what ever happened to that Signalgate IG report? Or should the question be, have they fired that IG yet?

essentialsaltes · 2025-11-05T11:31:39-0600

Say it aint so said:
Speaking of Pete, what ever happened to that Signalgate IG report? Or should the question be, have they fired that IG yet?

The IG review was completed in September, but it's a secret. People are suing to release it.

American Oversight Seeks Release of Pentagon Inspector General’s Report on Secretary Hegseth’s Signal Use - American Oversight

We filed a FOIA request for the DOD watchdog’s review of auto-deleting messaging app use for official business.

americanoversight.org

Say it aint so · 2025-11-05T11:34:48-0600

essentialsaltes said:
The IG review was completed in September, but it's a secret. People are suing to release it.

American Oversight Seeks Release of Pentagon Inspector General’s Report on Secretary Hegseth’s Signal Use - American Oversight

We filed a FOIA request for the DOD watchdog’s review of auto-deleting messaging app use for official business.

americanoversight.org

But of course.......

Defense Secretary Hegseth, bedeviled by leaks, orders more restrictions on press at Pentagon, "remains committed to transparency"

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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Joint Press Conference With Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in Tokyo​

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Press Conference Following NATO Ministers of Defense Meeting in Brussels, Belgium​

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Freedom of the press or favor for Pete Hegseth? MAGA Pentagon reporter fired after scathing commentary​

CoPacEtiC SkEpTic

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Hegseth unveils new restrictions on Pentagon press access​

CoPacEtiC SkEpTic

Hegseth unveils new restrictions on Pentagon press access​

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‘A Bridge Too Far’: Fox’s Jonathan Turley Shreds the Pentagon’s New Press Restrictions​

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Hegseth unveils new restrictions on Pentagon press access​

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