Pentagon bars journalists from entering its press office citing re-designation

Journalists may no longer enter the Pentagon’s press office, which has been designated as a classified space amid growing moves to restrict press access to the defense department. “This is the most transparent war department in history. No amount of spin from the Fake News media will change that,” Jose Valdez, the acting defense department press secretary, said in a social media post. “The Pentagon Press Office has been redesignated as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility due to speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of War sharing the facility.” Valdez added that, because speechwriters handle classified material, “journalists will no longer be permitted to enter the office space”. The move was first reported by the Washington Post , and later confirmed by Valdez on social media. The defense department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Guardian. The defense department, which the Trump administration prefers to call the war department, began rolling out new restrictions to press access in September, when the military demanded journalists pledge not to gather any information – including unclassified documents – that had not been authorized for release or else risk revocation of their press passes. …