Legendary Pentagon Reporter Warns Pete Hegseth Is About to Run Into a ‘Buzzsaw of Trouble’
Legendary retired Pentagon reporter Barbara Starr spoke to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins about Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s latest defense of his press crackdown at the Pentagon, putting in place new restrictions on journalists that have led to every outlet but one being forced out of the building.
Collins noted Hegseth defended his new rules, which restrict journalists for soliciting or obtaining any information not explicitly cleared by the Pentagon, during a press event at the White House on Tuesday. “And to what Secretary Hegseth had said about how these new rules would affect that,” Collins said, introducing the clip.
Hegseth says in the clip, “Maybe the policy should look like the White House or other military installations where you have to wear a badge that identifies that you’re press, or you can’t just roam anywhere you want. It used to be, Mr. President, the press could go anywhere, pretty much anywhere in the Pentagon, the most classified area in the world.”
“Is that true?” Collins asked Starr.
“No, absolutely not. And he knows it. And he should be telling the president the truth. Reporters, first of all, have worn badges identifying themselves, just like you do at the White House, the State Department, Capitol Hill, for decades,” Starr replied, adding:
So that has been taken care of. Going anywhere they want? Absolutely not. Several months ago, they even further restricted where reporters could go in the Pentagon. But prior to that, no, they go where they have business to conduct. They go to Starbucks to get coffee in the morning, but they don’t go into classified areas and they don’t go chasing people down in the hallway.
Let me make a point about that, however. Over the years I covered the Pentagon, we often, all of us, ran into the Secretary of Defense or the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in the hallway, and they would come to the press area to have a chat. You know, hey, what’s going on? What are you guys working on? What’s up? There was very much this ongoing communication.
What Hegseth is about to lose, I don’t think he even comprehends. He’s about to lose the ability to have communication with millions of Americans who read blogs, read newspapers, tune into TV to get military news, to find out what’s going on, to find out how their tax money is being spent, what the troops are up to, how military families are doing, how women and minorities are doing in the military.
He’s going to have a tough time really communicating. And that’s very different than President Trump. As you know, Kaitlan, Mr. Trump likes to talk to the media every day that he’s in office. Hegseth almost never talks to the media. And I think behind the scenes, the big question that’s being whispered about more and more is: what is Hegseth afraid of? If he’s afraid of leaks, go after those he believes are leaking. If he is afraid of not showing the president how tough he is, well, he probably needs to start by telling the truth about what’s really going on with the media and the Pentagon and going from there.
I think he’s about to potentially run into a buzzsaw of trouble, because reporters are going to continue to report, whether they’re inside the building or not.
Watch the clip above via CNN.
