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WASHINGTON — <\/span>A Pentagon policy limiting journalists’ access to the building is depriving Americans of vital information about U.S. military operations while the country is at war<\/a>, a New York Times attorney argued Friday in urging a judge to block the new rules.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s more important than ever for the public to know as much as they can,\u201d Times attorney Theodore Boutrous told U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman during the first hearing for the newspaper’s lawsuit against the Defense Department.<\/p>\n Friedman didn’t immediately rule on whether to order the Pentagon to reinstate press credentials for reporters who walked out<\/a> of the building last October rather than agree to the new rules. But the judge’s remarks suggested he was skeptical of key arguments in the government’s defense of the policy.<\/p>\n Friedman, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Bill Clinton, suggested that it is \u201cmore important than ever\u201d for Americans to hear “a variety of views” about the activities of the federal government and its elected leaders.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of things need to be held tightly and secure, but openness and transparency allows members of the public to know what their government is doing,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n Justice Department attorney Michael Bruns said the credentialing policy reflects the government’s \u201ccompelling interest\u201d and its \u201cstatutory obligation\u201d to protect national security information.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a trivial exercise,” Bruns argued.<\/p>\n Friedman said he intends to issue \u201cas prompt a decision as I can, because I know it’s important for lots of reasons.\u201d <\/p>\n The Times sued the Pentagon<\/a> and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in December, claiming the credentialing policy violates the journalists\u2019 constitutional rights to free speech and due process.<\/p>\n Times spokesperson Charles Stadtlander said the U.S. attacks on Iran \u2014 and the resulting deaths of American troops \u2014 \u201cilluminate the public\u2019s right to access deep, impartial reporting on the details of the military actions happening as we speak.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cToday was an important opportunity for The New York Times\u2019s lawyers to make our case for the clear importance and public service of allowing journalists to report fully on the Pentagon,\u201d Stadtlander said in a statement.<\/p>\n The current Pentagon press corps is comprised mostly of conservative outlets that agreed to the policy. Reporters from outlets that refused to consent to the new rules, including from The Associated Press, have continued reporting<\/a> on the military from outside the building.<\/p>\n The AP, meanwhile, is awaiting a decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court of Appeals on its separate lawsuit against the Trump administration. The AP contends that Trump\u2019s team punished it by reducing its access to presidential events because the outlet hasn\u2019t followed the president\u2019s lead in renaming the Gulf of Mexico.<\/p>\n The Pentagon has argued that the policy imposes \u201ccommon sense\u201d rules that protect the military from the disclosure of national security information.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal of that process is to prevent those who pose a security risk from having broad access to American military headquarters,\u201d government attorneys wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n Times attorneys claim the policy is designed to silence unfavorable press coverage of President Donald Trump\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n \u201cThe First Amendment flatly prohibits the government from granting itself the unbridled power to restrict speech because the mere existence of such arbitrary authority can lead to self-censorship,\u201d they wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Times argues that the Pentagon has applied its own rules inconsistently. The newspaper said Trump ally Laura Loomer<\/a>, a right-wing personality who agreed to the Pentagon policy, appeared to violate its prohibition on the soliciting unauthorized information by promoting her \u201ctip line.\u201d <\/p>\n The government didn’t object to Loomer’s \u201cgeneral tip line\u201d but concluded that a Washington Post tip line does violate its policy because it purportedly \u201ctargets” military personnel and department employees.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n AP Media Writer David Bauder in New York contributed to this story. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n