The Times challenges a requirement that journalists be escorted while on Pentagon grounds, alleging First and Fifth Amendment violations.
9:09 PM
The New York Times sued the Defense Department on Monday for the second time in five months, challenging a policy that requires credentialed journalists to have official escorts when inside Pentagon grounds.
The lawsuit names the Department of Defense, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, his adviser Timothy Parlatore, and Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell as defendants. The Times alleges that the escort requirement is retaliatory toward the publication and violates the First and Fifth Amendments.
In a filing with the U.S. District Court in Washington, the Times' attorneys characterized the policy as "an unconstitutional attempt by the Pentagon to prevent independent reporting on military affairs." The lawsuit describes the escort requirement as part of "a series of escalating steps designed to stop unfavorable coverage" and argues it "dramatically curtails longstanding press access to the Pentagon."
Charlie Stadtlander, a Times spokesman, said in a statement to the Associated Press: "As we have said before: Americans deserve visibility into how their government is being run, and the actions the military is taking in their name and with their tax dollars."
The Trump administration introduced sweeping restrictions on press access at the Department of Defense last September. An interim policy implemented in the spring imposed what the Times describes as "utterly unreasonable" restrictions on journalists attempting to cover the department.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell responded to the lawsuit on X, stating that the Times' legal action is "nothing more than an attempt to remove the barriers to them getting their hands on classified information."
The lawsuit represents an escalation in tensions between the U.S. media and the second Trump administration over press access and government transparency.
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