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Hegseth Hand-Picks Media for Pentagon 12/02 06:10
(AP) -- Outlets that reach millions of news consumers are being denied
access to rare briefings by Pentagon officials this week -- sessions that are
being held instead for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's hand-picked media
organizations.
It's not as if there's little to talk about, with both the Senate and House
Armed Services committees opening investigations into U.S. military strikes
against alleged drug couriers in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.
Hegseth's team says the briefings are part of special orientation events for
a newly credentialed Pentagon press corps, consisting primarily of conservative
outlets that agreed to his new rules for operation. Pentagon press secretary
Kingsley Wilson is due to meet reporters Tuesday and Hegseth will do so
Wednesday.
Most mainstream outlets exited the Pentagon this fall rather than agree to
the new rules. The Defense Department says they are "common sense" regulations
designed to prevent the spread of classified information. News outlets worried
they would effectively be agreeing only to report news approved by Hegseth.
Departed journalists still working, just a bit farther away
The rules haven't kept journalists from working, even without the physical
access. The Washington Post reported Friday that Hegseth ordered a second
strike in September on a boat with suspected drug smugglers after not everyone
had been initially killed. President Donald Trump said Hegseth had denied he
did this, which some critics have said was a potential war crime if true.
The Post, The Associated Press, CNN, Reuters and Newsmax were some of the
outlets that said Monday they had requested special access to the Pentagon to
cover question-and-answer sessions, but were denied.
"Denying access to briefings to credible and nonpartisan news media that
routinely cover the Pentagon is not conducive to transparency for the American
public, who fund the department's budget to the tune of many hundreds of
billions of dollars per year," said Marc Lavine, North America regional
director for Agence France-Presse, which also said its request was denied.
The department's press office said Wilson's briefing is part of a special
orientation event "for credentialed press only." It would not say whether
future briefings would follow the same rules. Defense Department briefings used
to be routine and regular; only a handful have been held since Trump began his
second term.
It's unclear whether any of the briefings will be seen outside the Pentagon.
Lavine said AFP was told access to livestreams was not possible.
Newcomers take to social media
Some of the new Pentagon press corps posted pictures of themselves online
Monday wearing their credentials.
They included influential Trump ally Laura Loomer, pictured sitting at an
empty desk. "The Washington Post @washingtonpost and Dan Lamothe @DanLamothe
used to occupy this desk inside the Pentagon Press room," she wrote. "Now it's
mine!"
Replied Lamothe on X: "May it treat you well on your occasional trips to
Washington, Laura. I assume it'll sit empty much of the time, as it has for
weeks now."
Alexandra Ingersoll and former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz were recently
credentialed at the Pentagon on behalf of One America News. Ingersoll is
expected to report live this week from the Pentagon, said Charles Herring, OAN
president. She conducted an interview with Hegseth that appeared on the network
Nov. 20.
Rob Bluey, president and executive editor of The Daily Signal, said he
expected to attend the briefings with reporter Bradley Devin, assuming some
last-minute snags with their credentials are smoothed out.
Bluey, in an interview, said he understood the need for rules in issuing
credentials, since his outlet was often denied access to places prior to the
Trump administration.
"Generally," he said, "I think that when government agencies err on the side
of transparency it is to the benefit of the American people."
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