Pentagon official's retort to NYT lawsuit draws immediate scorn from fired-up reporters

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell fired back Monday after the New York Times filed its second lawsuit against the Defense Department in five months, claiming the paper simply wants to get its hands on classified information — and reporters who cover the building immediately returned fire.

Parnell posted on X that the Times' lawsuit, which challenges a requirement that journalists be escorted at all times while inside the Pentagon, was "nothing more than an attempt to remove the barriers to them getting their hands on classified information," adding that reporters want "to roam the halls of the Pentagon freely and without an escort — a privilege that they do not have in any other federal building."

The new lawsuit is the second since the Times first sued the Pentagon in December after Hegseth replaced nearly the entire press corps with MAGA allies. Pete Hegseth, Parnell, and Hegseth's personal attorney Tim Parlatore are named as defendants.

A federal judge has already ruled twice that Hegseth's press restrictions violated the First Amendment. Parlatore has previously admitted that the interim policy he drafted essentially used more words to say the same unconstitutional thing.

Pentagon reporters found Parnell's claims hard to swallow.

Washington Post Pentagon correspondent Dan Lamothe noted that "No evidence ever has been presented of reporters obtaining classified information while roaming the halls of the Pentagon. Those halls, I would add, are unclassified spaces routinely visited by tourists, foreign military personnel, etc. Classified spaces at the Pentagon are locked -- as one would expect."

AP Pentagon reporter Konstantin Toropin added, "Employees working in the Pentagon food court are able to walk the building unescorted. Also, while reporters have walked the building unescorted for decades, this administration has never offered any examples of this resulting in leaked classified info to justify this policy."

Military Times reporter Meghann Myers piled on: "This DoD has never presented a single example of classified information being shared in the hallways of the Pentagon. If that were such a risk, CVS employees wouldn't be allowed to go to the bathroom."

Hans Mahncke, author of "Swiftboating America," wrote on X, "If proximity is suddenly treated as a legal entitlement, then the logic has to run both ways. By that standard, we should all be allowed to wander through New York Times offices and engage with their fake news operatives."

Army veteran and political commentator Fred Wellman delivered perhaps the sharpest takedown.

"Sean is counting on you believing that the Pentagon is a massive secure building with secrets spilling out of the offices. Its not. It’s a massive office building. There are various levels of security everywhere and you can’t just walk into a secure space. There are literally restaurants, coffee shops, gift shops, and a CVS with people just WALKING AROUND! For decades the Pentagon Press Corps was credentialed and allowed to meet in the building until these cowardly small people took over desperate to hide their lies and bulls---. They haven't banned CVS," he wrote. "Just the free press."