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Business Standard
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Pete Hegseth imposes fresh restrictions on reporter access to Pentagon
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth imposed a new round of restrictions on news outlets that cover the Pentagon, declaring large portions of the building off-limits to reporters unless they have an escort. In a memo released Friday, Hegseth said he was imposing the restrictions to protect classified national intelligence information, or CNSI. Reporters will be required to complete a form that details their 'responsibilities to protect' that material and must be be escorted by credentialed staff in the building. 'While the Department remains committed to transparency, the Department is equally obligated to protect CNSI and sensitive information — the unauthorized disclosure of which could put the lives of US Service members in danger,' Hegseth said in the memo. Also Read He had come under fire in recent weeks for sharing details of a pending attack on Houthi militants in Yemen in two chats on Signal, an unsecured online platform, that included the editor in chief of The Atlantic. Hegseth denied sharing classified information. In February, Hegseth removed four news outlets including the New York Times from their Pentagon office space as part of a new media-rotation program. After reporters protested, the Pentagon removed another four. Hegseth has also cut back the news outlets allowed to travel with him on overseas trips and has yet to green-light regular briefings by his spokesperson. The latest move provoked protest from the Pentagon Press Association, which said it 'appears to be a direct attack on the freedom of the press and America's right to know what its military is doing.' 'Journalists working from the Pentagon everyday will now have less freedom of movement than officers from foreign countries who are assigned to the US military's headquarters, as well as maintenance staff and concessions workers scattered throughout one of the world's largest office buildings,' the association said in a statement. The Pentagon has been an outlier among government agencies for the wide-ranging access allowed to the media. Before Hegseth's memo, accredited Pentagon reporters had almost total access to the building's hallways. Most other agencies impose severe limits on media access to their headquarters. 'The Defense Department remains committed to transparency but must ensure that transparency is balanced with both physical and information security requirements throughout the Pentagon,' Sean Parnell, the department spokesman, said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon. 'These updated measures are a necessary step to protect sensitive information and to keep our US service members protected from preventable risks.'
TimesLIVE
24-05-2025
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
Trump administration puts new limits on reporters at Pentagon
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday issued orders that require journalists to have official escorts within much of the Pentagon building, the latest in a series of Trump administration restrictions placed on the press. The measures, which take effect immediately, bar credentialed reporters from most of the department of defence headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, unless they have an official approval and escort. 'While the department remains committed to transparency, the department is equally obligated to protect CSNI (classified intelligence) and sensitive information — the unauthorised disclosure of which could put the lives of US Service members in danger,' Hegseth said in a memorandum. He called the protection of classified national intelligence information and operational security 'an unwavering imperative for the department'. The Pentagon Press Association, a membership organisation representing the interests of the press corps covering the US military, said the new rules appeared to be a 'direct attack on the freedom of the press'. 'The decision is purportedly based on concerns about operational security. But the Pentagon Press Corps has had access to non-secured, unclassified spaces in the Pentagon for decades, under Republican and Democratic administrations, including in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, without any concern about OP-SEC from DoD leadership,' the statement said. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the press association's statement.
American Military News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- American Military News
‘Catastrophic' Afghanistan withdrawal review ordered by SECDEF Hegseth
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered Pentagon leaders on Tuesday to conduct a 'comprehensive review' of the U.S. military's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 under former President Joe Biden's administration. In a Tuesday memorandum sent to senior Pentagon leaders, Hegseth said, 'On August 26, 2021, President Biden's administration led a chaotic withdrawal of US military and embassy officials from Afghanistan that led to the deaths of 13 US Service members and 170 civilians in a suicide bombing at the Kabul International Airport's Abbey Gate. President Trump and I have formally pledged full transparency for what transpired during our military withdrawal from Afghanistan.' Hegseth explained that the Pentagon has an 'obligation' to the American public and to the U.S. military members who served in Afghanistan to 'get to the facts' behind the U.S. military's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan under the Biden-Harris administration. The secretary of defense noted that reviewing the facts surrounding the failed withdrawal from Afghanistan is an 'important step' in the Trump administration's efforts to regain the faith and trust of the American people and those who serve in the military. 'Over the last three months, the Department has been engaged in a review of this catastrophic event in our military's history,' Hegseth said. 'I have concluded that we need to conduct a comprehensive review to ensure that accountability for this event is met and that the complete picture is provided to the American people.' READ MORE: 1 US service member killed, 62 injured in Biden's Gaza pier failure As part of the comprehensive review of the Afghanistan withdrawal, Hegseth said he is directing Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Sean Parnell to organize a Special Review Panel for the Pentagon to 'thoroughly examine previous investigations,' including 'findings of fact, sources, witnesses,' and to 'analyze the decision making that led to one of America's darkest and deadliest international moments.' Hegseth added, 'This team will ensure ACCOUNTABILITY to the American people and the warfighters of our great Nation.' Earlier this year, President Donald Trump announced that the ISIS-K member identified as the 'top terrorist' behind the tragic Abbey Gate bombing at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, had been arrested and was being transported to the United States to 'face the swift sword of American justice.' In February, Trump told reporters that while he would not tell Hegseth what to do with regard to the Pentagon's actions against the military leaders responsible for the Afghanistan withdrawal, he 'would fire every single one of them' if he were in Hegseth's position.
