Federal Judge Strikes Down Pentagon Press Restrictions, Citing First Amendment Violations

A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration violated the Constitution by enforcing a highly restrictive press credential policy at the Pentagon, rolling back a measure that effectively barred traditional journalists from the building. U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman on Friday granted a request from The New York Times to void the Defense Department’s policy, declaring it a violation of the First and Fifth Amendments. He rejected the government’s argument that the rules were necessary to protect classified information.“A primary purpose of the First Amendment is to enable the press to publish what it will and the public to read what it chooses, free of any official proscription,” Judge Friedman wrote in his 40-page ruling. “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 restrictive policy was implemented last year by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In September, the Pentagon declared that it would issue credentials only to reporters who signed pledges not to solicit or publish information that the Trump administration had not officially approved for release.The mandate caused a mass exodus of credentialed reporters from major outlets — including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Fox News — that refused to sign. In their place, credentials were given to activists and political commentators such as Laura Loomer, Matt Gaetz, James O’Keefe, and Mike Lindell.The New York Times filed a lawsuit challenging the restrictions on behalf of its national security reporter, Julian E. Barnes.In his ruling, Judge Friedman dismantled the administration’s defense, noting that the policy was excessively vague, granted arbitrary power to officials, and constituted illegal viewpoint discrimination.“The record evidence supports the conclusion that the policy discriminates not based on political viewpoint but rather based on editorial viewpoint — that is, whether the individual or organization is willing to publish only stories that are favorable to or spoon-fed by department leadership,” Judge Friedman wrote, describing the rule as “viewpoint discrimination, full stop.”He further noted that the policy’s “true purpose and practical effect: to weed out disfavored journalists — those who were not, in the department’s view, ‘on board and willing to serve’ — and replace them with news entities that are.” Addressing the government’s claims about protecting sensitive information, Judge Friedman pointed out the fatal flaw in the administration’s logic.“The considerations that may or may not lead to a reporter being deemed ‘a security or safety risk’ include obtaining or attempting to obtain any information that the department has not approved for release, regardless of whether that information is classified,” the judge wrote. “But to state the obvious, obtaining and attempting to obtain information is what journalists do. A primary way in which journalists obtain information is by asking questions.”

Federal Judge Strikes Down Pentagon Press Restrictions, Citing First Amendment Violations

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