Sputnik, the Russian state-owned news organization, has applied for White House press credentials, according to a report Friday.
Sputnik applied for a White House hard pass and has requested membership into the roughly 22-member White House Foreign Press Group, which would allow the news website’s reporters to travel with White House officials and report on the Trump administration to the rest of the group.
WHFBP leader Philip Crowther told Politico there “shouldn’t be any reason” the group’s membership should be denied if it can meet the criteria.
Sputnik would not be the only state-sponsored outlet to join the group. France 24 and China’s CCTV are already members. Both outlets met the prerequisites — having a White House-approved hard pass, White House Correspondents’ Association membership and State Department verification that they are foreign-based.
