New York Times sues Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth over restrictive Pentagon media rules

The New York Times sued the Defense Department and Secretary Pete Hegseth connected Thursday, saying that their caller restrictions connected reporters who screen the Pentagon interruption the U.S Constitution's escaped property protections.

The suit comes astir 2 months aft reporters from The Times and different mainstream quality outlets, including CBS, CNN, Fox News, and dramatic walkout of the Pentagon and surrendered their credentials aft refusing to comply with the rules.

Those outlets person been replaced by reporters who are broadly sympathetic to the Trump administration.

The Pentagon successful October presented reporters who had desks determination a 21-page rulebook that bars journalists from seeking oregon publishing accusation that has not been explicitly authorized by the Defense Department, adjacent if the worldly is unclassified oregon obtained disconnected Pentagon grounds.

Outlets that refused to abide by the rules mislaid their Pentagon credentials.

The Times' lawsuit, filed successful U.S. District Court successful Washington, D.C., asks a justice to artifact the Pentagon from enforcing the policy, and to state it unconstitutional.

"The policy, successful usurpation of the First Amendment, seeks to restrict journalists' quality to bash what journalists person ever done — inquire questions of authorities employees and stitchery accusation to study stories that instrumentality the nationalist beyond authoritative pronouncements," the suit says.

The rules "deprive the nationalist of captious accusation astir the United States subject and its leadership," the suit says.

The ailment besides says that the Defense Department gave itself "unbridled discretion" to enforce the rules arsenic it sees fit.

Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell, who is named arsenic a suspect successful the suit, told CNBC that the Defense Department "is alert of the New York Times suit and [looks] guardant to addressing these arguments successful court."

The Times did instantly instrumentality a petition for comment.

The Pentagon's media rules were the latest measurement successful Hegseth's broader propulsion to reshape the press corps.

Since arriving astatine the department successful January aft a contentious confirmation fight, Hegseth has stripped respective nationalist outlets of in-house workspaces, tightened rules connected wherever reporters tin determination wrong the building, and reassigned offices to blimpish outlets and pro-Trump media figures consenting to motion the agreement.

Press-freedom advocates, including the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, accidental the Pentagon argumentation goes beyond past fights implicit idiosyncratic White House property badges. Rather than targeting 1 newsman astatine a time, they argue, the rules hindrance the full property corps — giving the Pentagon wide authorization to revoke entree based connected the stories they pursue.

"The Pentagon's property entree argumentation is unlawful due to the fact that it gives authorities officials unchecked powerfulness implicit who gets a credential and who doesn't, thing the First Amendment prohibits," Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Vice President of Policy Gabe Rottman said successful a connection Thursday, aft the Times filed its suit.