A Clinton-appointed federal judge again sided with the New York Times on Thursday in the newspaper’s ongoing lawsuit against the Department of War over press access to the Pentagon.
U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman last ruled in favor of the plaintiff on March 20, determining that the Trump administration violated the plaintiff’s First Amendment rights.
The Pentagon’s initial policy withheld press credentials from reporters who did not agree to refrain from soliciting any unauthorized information about the military or national security. Strict rules for journalists’ escorts were also required.
A similarly restrictive policy was created after Friedman’s prior ruling, closing the Pentagon’s long-standing workplace for reporters and barring reporters from accessing the building without escorts. Federal attorneys representing the defendants argued the prior order did not preclude the department from issuing a new policy, but the judge determined the interim policy was likewise unlawful.
“The Department cannot simply reinstate an unlawful policy under the guise of taking ‘new’ action and expect the Court to look the other way,” Friedman wrote in the 20-page opinion.
“Nor can the Department take steps to circumvent the Court’s injunction and expect the Court to turn a blind eye,” he wrote. “But that is exactly what the defendants have done by closing the Correspondents’ Corridor and imposing an escort requirement. The Court’s Order requires the Department to restore the plaintiffs’ access to the Pentagon.”
The original press credential policy that Friedman struck down last month was implemented in October. The New York Times and national security reporter Julian Barnes sued the Pentagon in December, kicking off the legal battle in which War Secretary Pete Hegseth now finds himself.
An order accompanying the judge’s opinion compels the defendants to reinstate press credentials for Barnes and six other New York Times reporters who were restricted access to the Pentagon.
The department plans to appeal the ruling and maintains it is complying with Judge Friedman’s order, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on social media.
“The Department has at all times complied with the Court’s Order — it reinstated the PFACs of every journalist identified in the Order and issued a materially revised policy that addressed every concern the Court identified in its March 20 Opinion,” he wrote. “The Department remains committed to press access at the Pentagon while fulfilling its statutory obligation to ensure the safe and secure operation of the Pentagon Reservation.”
JUDGE RULES PENTAGON PRESS RESTRICTIONS UNLAWFUL
The New York Times, as well as the Washington Examiner, was among many publications that refused to agree to the Pentagon’s restrictive press policy, resulting in their expulsion from the administrative building’s press room.
A similar legal battle erupted when the White House decided to bar Associated Press employees from the Oval Office for certain events after the news agency refused to adopt the “Gulf of America” name over the Gulf of Mexico. Litigation in that saga remains ongoing.
