A key Democratic Federal Election Commission member promoting a plan to bar foreign-owned firms from influencing elections said it won’t put any restrictions on the press, calling concerns raised that it would hit U.S. media with foreign ownership “absurd.”

In a letter blasting Secrets’ coverage of her proposal, Commissioner Ellen Weintraub wrote, “My proposal does not touch media entities in any way. The media’s coverage of our political system is fully protected, generally by the First Amendment, and specifically by the Federal Election Campaign Act and Commission regulations. I take these protections very seriously.”