WASHINGTON, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. federal judge ruled on Thursday that the Pentagon should restore access to credentialed journalists covering the Department of Defense.
Paul Friedman, a senior judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, made the ruling in a sharp rebuke of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's attempts to restrict media access.
Friedman ordered Pentagon officials to reinstate the press credentials to reporters who cover the U.S. military from the building.
"The Department cannot simply reinstate an unlawful policy under the guise of taking 'new' action and expect the court to look the other way," he wrote in the ruling. "The curtailment of First Amendment rights is dangerous at any time, and even more so in a time of war."
Last month, Friedman struck down several provisions of the policy issued by Hegseth, finding that they improperly allowed the Pentagon to suspend or revoke journalists' credentials based on their reporting. ■