Pentagon press secretary's own sworn statement gives away the game on new policy

A press secretary for the Pentagon appears to have given the game away in terms of the Trump administration's intentions with its recent change to press access rules, with one reporter explaining that her recent sworn statement "lays out pretty clearly" that the plan was to prevent journalists from doing actual journalism.

The Department of Defense is currently in the midst of a legal battle against the New York Times over its revised press policies, with a judge rolling back many of the new rules imposed since President Donald Trump's return to power. Critics have long criticized these moves as an effort to stop unflattering stories about the agency from spreading, with the Pentagon itself claiming that the move was meant to protect sensitive or classified materials from leaking.

After the judge's ruling last week, the Pentagon requested that a rule requiring escorts for reporters at the Pentagon to remain in effect while it fought to undo the other changes, arguing in a filing that "allowing members of the public unfettered access to the Pentagon poses unique and acute dangers."

A sworn statement included in a recent filing from DOD press secretary Kingsley Wilson, however, seems to indicate what the revised press access rules are actually attempting to combat, as The Guardian's media reporter Jeremy Barr noted in a post to X.

"When journalists surrendered their [Pentagon Facilities Alternative Credentials] and accompanying Pentagon access, the Department was able to observe a dramatic decrease in journalists obtaining sensitive, controlled or classified information that should never have been released to them," Wilson said in the sworn statement.

"This line from Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson's sworn statement lays out pretty clearly what the goal of their revised access policy is," Barr wrote.

A report by The Daily Beast on Wilson's statement made the point even clearer, arguing that her definition of a threat to the Pentagon appears to match the definition of journalism itself.

"The Pentagon has a new theory of national security: journalists can be dangerous if allowed to roam freely," the outlet explained. "The argument leans heavily on a sworn declaration from Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson, who painted a dark picture of reporters lurking near power, watching who comes and goes, and asking inconveniently well-timed questions. For many people, this is the definition of journalism."