Judge: Pentagon Violating Court Order  04/10 06:10

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge on Thursday ruled that the Defense 
Department is violating his earlier order to restore access to the Pentagon for 
reporters, a setback in the administration's efforts to impede the work of 
journalists.

   U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman sided with The New York Times for the 
second time in a month. He had earlier said the Pentagon's new credential 
policy violated journalists' constitutional rights to free speech and due 
process. On Thursday, he said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's team had tried 
to evade his March 20 ruling by putting in new rules that expel all reporters 
from the building unless guided by escorts.

   "The department simply cannot reinstate an unlawful policy under the guise 
of taking 'new' action and expect the court to look the other way," Friedman 
wrote.

   Friedman had ordered Pentagon officials to reinstate the press credentials 
of seven Times reporters and stressed that his decision applies to "all 
regulated parties." The Pentagon building serves as the headquarters for U.S. 
military operations.

   Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell said it disagrees with the 
ruling and intends to appeal. Parnell said in a social media post that the 
department has "at all times" complied with judge's orders, reinstating 
journalists' credentials and issuing "a materially revised policy that 
addressed every concern" identified by the judge.

   "The Department remains committed to press access at the Pentagon while 
fulfilling its statutory obligation to ensure the safe and secure operation of 
the Pentagon Reservation," he wrote.

   Times attorney Theodore Boutrous said Thursday's ruling "powerfully 
vindicates both the Court's authority and the First Amendment's protections of 
independent journalism."

   A dispute brewing since October

   In October, reporters from mainstream news outlets walked out of the 
building rather than agree to the new rules. The Times sued the Pentagon and 
Hegseth in December to challenge the policy.

   President Donald Trump has fought against the press on several levels since 
returning to his second term, suing The Times and Wall Street Journal, and 
cutting funding for public radio and television because he did not like their 
coverage. At the same time, he frequently talks to the media and responds to 
reporters who call him on his cell phone.

   In a series of briefings on the Iran War, Hegseth has frequently ignored or 
insulted legacy media reporters let in to cover the events, while concentrating 
on questions from friendly conservative media.

   Times attorneys accused the Pentagon of violating the judge's March 20 
order, "both in letter and spirit" with its revised policy. The newspaper said 
that Pentagon was also trying to impose unprecedented rules dictating when 
reporters can offer anonymity to sources.

   Friedman said that the access the Pentagon made available to permit holders 
"is not even close to as meaningful as the broad access" they previously had.

   Government lawyers said the Pentagon's revised policy fully complies with 
the judge's directives. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell has 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 that Friedman deemed to 
be unconstitutional while also adding new restrictions on credential holders.

   "In effect," Justice Department attorneys wrote, "Plaintiffs ask this Court 
to expand the Order to prohibit the Department from ever addressing the 
security of the Pentagon through a press credentialing policy with conditions 
that may address similar topics or concerns as the enjoined conditions. The 
Order does not say that, and this Court should not read it to say that."

   Current Pentagon press corps agreed to policy

   The current Pentagon press corps is comprised mostly of conservative outlets 
that agreed to the policy. Journalists from outlets that refused to consent to 
the new rules, including from the AP, have continued reporting on the military 
from outside the Pentagon.

   Friedman, who was nominated to 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.

   "Those who drafted the First Amendment believed that the nation's security 
requires a free press and an informed people and that such security is 
endangered by governmental suppression of political speech. That principle has 
preserved the nation's security for almost 250 years. It must not be abandoned 
now," the judge wrote last month.

   Friedman said the challenged policy is clearly designed to weed out 
"disfavored journalists" and replace them with those who are "on board and 
willing to serve" the administration.

   "That," he wrote, "is viewpoint discrimination, full stop."