Federal judge finds Pentagon is violating court order to restore access to reporters

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

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.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman sided with The New York Times earlier this month in deciding that the Pentagon’s new credential policy violated journalists’ constitutional rights to free speech and due process. He sided again with the Times in saying that the Pentagon had tried to evade his 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.”

-snip-

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and DAVID BAUDER
Updated 5:56 PM EDT, April 9, 2026


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-press-nyt-new-york-times-access-6487d7bf4a4a87ad1bf9864a275b5239

[bluestarone]

1. Judges orders are NOTHING to this bunch of FUCKERS!!

We are all the way back to the 1800's where the RICH BASTARDS controlled EVERYTHING.

[riversedge]

2. Until it hits Hegseth's Wallet, nothing will happen

[republianmushroom]

3. SO ? What are you going to do Judge ?

[area51]

4. The #PEDOnald administration is violating a judge's order?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. MaddowBlog-Judge rejects Pentagon effort to restrict press access, says it smacks of 'autocracy'

The Defense Department keeps trying to impose unnecessary limits on journalists. It keeps losing in court.

Judge rejects Pentagon effort to restrict press access, says it smacks of ‘autocracy’

https://www.europesays.com/2909851/

The first time Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon tried to impose restrictions on the free press, it lost…

— EUROPE SAYS (@europesays.bsky.social) 2026-04-10T16:00:21+00:00

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/judge-rejects-pentagon-effort-to-restrict-press-access-says-it-smacks-of-autocracy

The first time Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon tried to impose restrictions on the free press, it lost in court. When the Defense Department tried again, it failed again. Politico reported:

A federal judge has rejected Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s renewed effort to restrict press access to the Pentagon, calling it an attempt to dictate media coverage that smacks of ‘an autocracy, not a democracy.’

‘The curtailment of First Amendment rights is dangerous at any time, and even more so in time of war,’ U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman wrote Thursday. ‘The Constitution demands better. The American public demands better, too.’

The problem began in earnest last fall when Hegseth and his team, as part of a larger offensive against journalism at the Pentagon, told news organizations that reporters wouldn’t be allowed to cover the department unless they agreed only to report information, including unclassified information, authorized for release by the administration.....

Last month, Friedman ruled against the Pentagon’s restrictive press access policy, concluding that it violated the First Amendment and granted the government overly broad authority to control the press corps’ access. The court decision fueled some hope that conditions at the Defense Department might return to normal.

Those hopes were soon dashed. Hegseth’s team responded to the ruling by imposing new limits on media organizations, including closing a workspace used for years by journalists.

The case quickly went back to court, and the Pentagon lost again.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

6. Judge hammers Hegseth for trying to sneak illegal press rules back in

Hegseth's "new" press rules were the same rules as before. Hegseth ignored the Court's ruling and this Judge was pissed.

A federal judge smacked down Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's new attempt to write rules for Pentagon correspondents, concluding that the department has once again infringed on the First Amendment.

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-04-09T22:50:54.961Z

https://www.rawstory.com/hegseth-2676695364/

A federal judge smacked down Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's new attempt to write rules for Pentagon correspondents, concluding that the department has once again infringed on the First Amendment.

The issue stems from a controversial policy issued by the Pentagon that requires reporters to commit not to publish anything leaked in violation of department policy as a condition of obtaining credentials. This rule caused every mainstream news outlet, and even most right-wing news outlets, to pull out of the press pool, leaving just a group of far-right bloggers and MAGA activists.

Last month, U.S. Senior District Judge Paul Friedman ruled this was not allowed. However, plaintiffs challenging the policy asserted that the Pentagon's "interim" policy effectively violated the terms of Friedman's order — and in a lengthy, scathing ruling issued on Thursday, Friedman agreed.

"The problem for the defendants ... is that the Department has not in fact taken 'new' action, at least with respect to the proscription on the 'inducement of unauthorized disclosure,'" wrote Friedman. "To the contrary, as explained in detail below, that proscription contained in the Interim Policy amounts to — in the Department’s words — a 'clarification' of the prohibitions contained in the original Policy that this Court held to be unconstitutional ... The Department cannot simply reinstate an unlawful policy under the guise of taking 'new' action and expect the Court to look the other way."

The "interim" policy limiting what journalists can write about the Pentagon, he wrote, constitutes “the mark of an autocracy, not a democracy.”

"The Court cannot conclude this Opinion without noting once again what this case is really about: the attempt by the Secretary of Defense to dictate the information received by the American people, to control the message so that the public hears and sees only what the Secretary and the Trump Administration want them to hear and see," he wrote. "The Constitution demands better. The American public demands better, too."

This judge is pissed