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The New York Times sued the Defense Department connected Monday (May 18, 2026) for the 2nd clip successful 5 months, arguing that a request that journalists beryllium escorted portion connected Pentagon grounds violates the First Amendment.
The escort argumentation is “an unconstitutional effort by the Pentagon to forestall autarkic reporting connected subject affairs,” a Times spokesman, Charlie Stadtlander, said successful an email to The Associated Press.
“As we person said before: Americans merit visibility into however their authorities is being run, and the actions the subject is taking successful their sanction and with their taxation dollars,” helium said.
On X, Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell called the Times’ latest suit “nothing much than an effort to region the barriers to them getting their hands connected classified information.”
The Times lawsuit is different salvo successful what has go an escalating hostility betwixt the U.S. media and the 2nd Trump administration, which has played retired some successful the nationalist arena and astatine times successful the courts.
The insubstantial said it had filed the further suit aft archetypal suing the Pentagon successful December implicit caller rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, to situation an interim argumentation “that the Pentagon hastily enactment into spot aft a national justice ruled successful The Times’s favour successful its archetypal lawsuit.” The caller argumentation included a request that journalists beryllium accompanied by escorts astatine each times portion successful the Pentagon.
The argumentation was implemented successful March pursuing a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman that had struck down earlier restrictions connected media access, saying they violated the rights of Times newsman Julian E. Barnes and the paper.
The pursuing month, the justice ruled that the interim argumentation violated his March order. But the escort argumentation remained successful spot erstwhile an appeals tribunal stayed portion of Mr. Friedman’s ruling portion the authorities appeals. The appeals process is ongoing.
The caller lawsuit, filed by the insubstantial and newsman Mr. Barnes successful the District of Columbia territory court, aims to get the courts to straight code the escort regularisation connected law grounds.
In the filing, the insubstantial contends the rule, similar different Pentagon media restrictions, has a wide purpose — “closing the Pentagon to immoderate writer oregon quality organisation unwilling to study lone what Department officials approve.”
This, it contends, is “patently unconstitutional.”
In December, the Times sued the Pentagon, attempting to overturn caller rules imposed by Mr. Hegseth that, it contended, violated the Constitution’s state of code and owed process provisions. Outlets specified arsenic the Times walked retired of the Pentagon alternatively than hold to the rules arsenic a information for getting a property credential. They proceed to screen the U.S. subject from extracurricular the building, portion a caller property corps approved by the section presently occupies the Pentagon space.
Mr. Parnell, successful his X station Monday (May 18, 2026), asserted that the Times and its journalists “want to roam the halls of the Pentagon freely and without an escort — a privilege that they bash not person successful immoderate different national building.”
He added, “The Department’s argumentation is wholly lawful and narrowly designed to support nationalist information accusation from unlawful transgression disclosure.”
