Pentagon Denies Report Hegseth Had ‘Pre-Selected List of Questioners’ for High-Stakes Presser

(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The Pentagon denied Monday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had a “pre-selected list” of friendly media outlets to call on for Monday’s high-stakes Pentagon press conference on Iran.

Defense Department press secretary Kingsley Wilson used X to address the report from CNN media reporter Brian Stelter.

“Brian, as usual for you, your post is false,” Wilson wrote.

“@SecWar took questions from a variety of credentialed and non-credentialed press outlets, not ‘his chosen outlets.’ He also did not have a ‘pre-selected list of questioners.’ He is not Sleepy Joe Biden. Hope that clears up any confusion.”

Stelter reported earlier Monday that Hegseth only answered questions from his “chosen” MAGA-friendly outlets while talking about the U.S.-Israeli joint operation against Iran.

In an attempt to limit “leaks,” the Pentagon announced a new press policy in September requiring journalists to sign a pledge promising not to use “unauthorized information.” Those who refused to sign the pledge had their press credentials terminated.

“The press is no longer allowed to roam the halls of a secure facility,” Hegseth posted to X at the time. “Wear a badge and follow the rules – or go home.”

NBC News, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, and Fox News Media sent out a joint statement “declining to agree to the Pentagon’s new requirements.” Other outlets refusing to acquiesce included The Atlantic, The Associated Press, The Guardian, Newsmax, NPR, Reuters, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

The new policy opened the door for MAGA-friendly “journalists,” including a January 6 rioter who boasted of covering Monday’s event.

Stelter wrote, “The MAGA crew does relatively little reporting, so most coverage of the US military is now happening from outside the Pentagon’s five walls.”

He continued:

Journalists from some traditional outlets were allowed to attend this morning’s press conference with Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine. But Hegseth only answered Q’s from his chosen outlets. I’m told he had a pre-selected list of questioners, and all the reporters were in assigned seats, so he knew who to call on.

When NBC’s Courtney Kube tried to get a question in anyway and said, “President Trump put a four-week timeline on it — are you saying that is wrong?” Hegseth dismissed it as a “typical NBC sort of ‘gotcha’ type question.”

Observers on social media decried the lack of probing questions.

Former Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor wrote, “The Hegseth/Caine press conference this morning is a vivid example of how Pentagon restrictions have gutted its press corps and replaced many of the real reporters with propagandists at the @dailywireplus, etc… Embarrassing and harmful to our ability to get information.”

Journalist Kevin Baron wrote, “Now we know what a fake Pentagon press conference with fake Pentagon reporters looks like.”

Journalist Jeff Jarvis posted, “Pentagon press conference without press,” while communications strategist Nu Wexler wrote, “Is this Pentagon press conference with real defense reporters or just the Twitter influencers who work there?”

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