Source: The Dispatch
by James Kirchick
“Government officials tend to dislike it when their employees disclose information to journalists that casts their department in a negative light. But Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is taking the Cabinet secretary’s natural dislike for press leaks to another level. Last month, Hegseth announced that, going forward, journalists covering the Pentagon will have to sign a pledge to refrain from gathering or publishing information not authorized by the Department of War (the Trump administration’s new moniker for the Department of Defense). … (On Monday, under vocal pressure from the Pentagon press corps, Hegseth walked back the measure). By attempting to prevent journalists from reporting on the inner workings of America’s largest employer and sharing that information with the public, this measure would have essentially prohibited journalism.” (10/09/25)
https://thedispatch.com/debates/espionage-act-debate-journalism-classified-information/