Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Hugo Lowell in Washington

Pete Hegseth, beset by leaks, clamps down on press inside Pentagon

Man looks to side of camera
Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, on Friday. Photograph: Samuel Corum/EPA

Defense secretary Pete Hegseth moved on Friday to dramatically curtail press access inside the Pentagon, seemingly punishing the news media for reporting on leaks of classified and unclassified information in recent weeks.

The changes, announced in a two-page memo issued by Hegseth, effectively boxed credentialed reporters into one corner on one floor of the building that houses the press office and spaces used by news organizations.

To walk anywhere else in the Pentagon, including past areas occupied by the joint chiefs and the press office for the joint chiefs, reporters will need to request permission and be escorted by an official, the memo said.

Reporters will also be banned from accessing the Pentagon Athletic Center and be issued new credentials which more clearly state the words “PRESS” on the badge. The current credential has the letters written in regular size at the bottom.

Hegseth said in the memo that he was adding the most draconian access restrictions in decades in order to limit the number of leaks coming from the Pentagon.

But it was not clear how limiting access to unclassified and non-secured hallways where military foreign military officials assigned to the Pentagon regularly walk around would stop leaks, suggesting the measures were more punitive.

Hegseth has taken an adversarial posture towards the news media since his arrival, including by ejecting a number of news organizations like the New York Times, CNN, Politico and NPR from their dedicated workspaces inside the building.

“There is no way to sugarcoat it. Today’s memo by Secretary Hegseth appears to be a direct attack on the freedom of the press and America’s right to know what its military is doing,” the board of the Pentagon Press Association said in a statement that also questioned why Hegseth had failed to hold a press briefing in his first 100 days.

The Pentagon has been beset by leaks since Hegseth took over and, in March, the secretary launched an investigation into at least nine separate disclosures that ranged from unflattering personal stories about his use of Signal group chats to policy deliberations.

The investigation also developed a criminal component after allegedly classified information about flexible options for the US military to take control of the Panama canal, including by sending US troops, emerged in news reports.

In an attempt to stop the leaks, Hegseth also summarily fired three top aides last month: his deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, senior adviser Dan Caldwell and the deputy defense secretary’s chief of staff Colin Carroll.

The firings appear to have had no effect on the leaks. The Guardian has reported on leaks about the leak investigation itself. Other outlets have reported on leaks from the defense department inspector general’s probe into Hegseth’s use of signal.

The new restrictions at the Pentagon are comparable in many ways to the limited press access at the White House, where reporters have unescorted access to the press office area, the briefing room and where news organizations keep workspaces.

But the Pentagon is set to be more restricted than other major executive branch agencies, including law-enforcement entities usch as the justice department, where reporters with a permanent badge can walk around the first floor of the building unescorted.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.