First Thing: Defense department bars reporters from Pentagon press room

Spokesperson claims Trump administration has ‘the most transparent war department in history’ despite ban on journalists using Pentagon facility. Also, more than 1,000 Marilyn Monroes descend on Palm Springs Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up here In another apparent affront to press freedom from the Trump administration, journalists may no longer enter the Pentagon’s press office, which has been designated as a classified space. The defense 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. Joel Valdez, the acting defense department press secretary, said in a social media post: “This is the most transparent war department in history. No amount of spin from the Fake News media will change that.” He claimed the redesignation was because “speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of War” shared the facility. How have the media reacted? After the defense department announced sweeping restrictions in October, many longtime reporters refused