Politico
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.”
Friedman’s ruling is the second time he has thrown out Hegseth’s bid to sharply curtail reporters’ access to the Pentagon. The judge tossed an earlier version of the press restrictions that threatened to strip credentials from journalists unless they agreed to publish only information preapproved by Department of Defense channels.
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