Mike Lindell, a 2020 election conspiracy theorist, pillow mogul, and avowed supporter of President Donald Trump, has press access at the Pentagon, but the New York Times does not — a case in point that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's policy is "unconstitutional," a federal lawsuit alleged on Thursday.
The Times' lead attorney, Ted Boutrous, who has represented Mary Trump and CNN, asserted in a 40-page complaint that Hegseth's media restriction policy must be blocked and declared unlawful under the First Amendment.
The controversy stems from the Pentagon's demand that media organizations sign loyalty pledges not to report information to the public that hasn't been approved by the Defense Department, even if that information is unclassified. Rather than signing on, many legacy media journalists exited the Pentagon in October and forfeited their badges. Several conservative media organizations followed suit in refusing to sign a policy that contemplated expulsion or more serious penalties for reporting, such as being branded a "security or safety risk."
According to the Times lawsuit, Pentagon Facility Alternate Credentials (PFACs) under Hegseth's rules give the Defense Department and the federal government "unbridled discretion to immediately suspend and ultimately revoke a reporter's PFAC for engaging in lawful newsgathering, both on and off Pentagon grounds, or for reporting any information Department officials have not approved," making the rules "neither reasonable nor viewpoint-neutral."
"It is exactly the type of speech- and press-restrictive scheme that the Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit have recognized violates the First Amendment," the lawsuit said, calling the move "a radical departure from longstanding tradition" and "inflicting irreparable harm on The Times and its reporters, including [Julian] Barnes, and on the American public."
That Mike Lindell and other openly pro-Trump figures have access to the Pentagon in place of journalists who wouldn't sign the so-called policy "Acknowledgment" says it all, the suit continued.
A radical departure: Pete Hegseth sued over unconstitutional favoritism toward Mike Lindell and others |
