The Pentagon has redesignated its press office as a classified facility, barring journalists from entering a space that for decades served as a key point of contact between reporters and military public affairs officials, the Washington Post reported Monday.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said the redesignation was prompted in part by organizational changes that relocated Pentagon speechwriters into the public affairs office.
The facility is also being equipped with access to the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, or SIPRNet, a secure communications system used to handle classified information.
“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,” acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez was quoted by the Washington Post as saying.
He added that the speechwriters “routinely handle classified material and require SIPRNet access.”
“As a result, journalists will no longer be permitted to enter the office space,” Valdez said. “Access to the office of the Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs and to the Press Secretary remains available by appointment only.”
The decision comes amid an ongoing legal dispute over journalists’ right to unescorted entry into unclassified areas of the Pentagon. Reporters were permitted to move freely through designated public spaces within the Defense Department, where they could speak with officials, cultivate sources, and attend routine briefings.
