My remarks at the @PresGeraldRFord awards. Grateful for a platform to discuss the Marines of #TaskForceViolent

In all these images of journalists vacating the Pentagon, I’m perhaps most struck by the collective experience & expertise on display — to include personal military experience in some cases, and extensive experience (at great personal risk) covering US troops in combat.

In the @washingtonpost’s print edition today. https://t.co/EfHGLkQU3k

Exclusive | U.S. Special Operations helicopters spotted near Venezuela Satellite imagery suggests the MV Ocean Trader, a floating Special Operation base, also has been in the region. Via @AlexHortonTX & @samueloakford Free link:

Exclusive: Special Operations helos, flying in a configuration best suited for ground assaults, were less than 90 miles from Venezuela last week. Official says they were training. w/ @samueloakford

“This guy is an officer, who also wears a civilian hat, who is also representing the secretary, who also is in the secretary’s front office, who also still has a private law firm,” one person said. “It’s like, who is he representing here?”

The backstory on Tim Parlatore, Pete Hegseth’s legal fixer/special adviser, is eye opening as his activities & influence at the Pentagon — including his role in Hegseth’s targeting of the news media — face internal scrutiny. Via @DanLamothe Free link:

NEW: How the Pentagon sidelined lawyers while testing the legal limits of military action New details about the firing of the Army’s top uniformed lawyer after he raised concerns about the use of the military domestically and mass firings; “political litmus tests” for TJAG

NEW TODAY: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bid to impose sweeping restrictions on journalists at the Pentagon was orchestrated with advice of his legal fixer, Tim Parlatore. He is straddling civilian and military roles, clashing with others along the way.

The backstory on Tim Parlatore, Pete Hegseth’s legal fixer/special adviser, is eye opening as his activities & influence at the Pentagon — including his role in Hegseth’s targeting of the news media — face internal scrutiny. Via @DanLamothe Free link:

I understand questions of press having access to the Pentagon from folks who haven't been there. They have a Hollywood idea of SEAL raids being planned in the open. This ignorance is being taken advantage of. In reality, it's a boring & relatively standard office building.

If this was about security, DOD would expel the workers at Taco Bell, Popeyes and all the fast food joints in the Pentagon to reduce risk of disclosure and espionage. It would even align with Hegseth’s fitness standard focus. And yet.

News outlets broadly reject Pentagon's new press rules

“How will the American people find out what is being done at the Pentagon in their name, with their hard-earned tax dollars, and more importantly, the decisions that may put their sons and daughters in harm's way?”

Must-read from @TBowmanNPR. It’s important everyone understands that this document is not about press’ ability to “roam the halls.” It equates asking for information—the press’ literal job—with criminal activity. The new rules even stipulate that sharing our contact information

Statement includes: "Secretary Hegseth has not briefed Pentagon reporters in nearly four months, and Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson has not conducted a briefing in two months. The Defense Department has avoided questions from the press, all while U.S. troops are operating

This is significant. MRE encompasses many of the independent newsrooms with a long, noble history of serving rank-and-file troops, vets & their families. Think deployment info, news about pay & benefits. Shows how Hegseth’s gambit actually undermines the military community too.

The Military Reporters and Editors "urges reporters not to sign the Pentagon’s new restrictive press policy" and calls it an "unprecedented attack on the First Amendment."

Starting Wednesday, for the first time since the Pentagon opened in 1943, there will be likely no major news outlets accredited to cover the dept, the one spending nearly $1 trillion of taxpayer money. Why? This Pentagon Press Association explains it best. Please read.

Prominent news outlets including the WaPo, NYT, The Atlantic, are refusing to sign the Pentagon's restrictive new press policy. WaPo Exec Editor Matt Murray said it "undercut[s] First Amendment protections on gathering and publishing information." https://t.co/jN1XJD3lmC

Major media outlets including @nytimes, @washingtonpost, @WSJ and @CNN have said they won’t agree to a new Defense Department policy restricting journalists’ communication with military sources.