John, Pete Hegseth demanded a loyalty pledge from every single journalist covering his so-called “Department of War” – asking them to only report on what the Trump Administration wants them to. [1]

Obviously, nearly all of them refused to comply – because journalists are supposed to hold the powerful accountable… NOT do their P.R. work for them. [2]

So this week, hundreds of journalists lost their press credentials – not just at mainstream outlets like the New York Times and CNN, but even ordinarily pro-Trump outlets like Fox News, Newsmax, and the Daily Caller!

These brave journalists deserve our support for holding firm – and Hegseth deserves every American’s condemnation for trying to turn our free press into another mouthpiece for Trump’s agenda.

Add your name to tell Pete Hegseth: reporting the news isn’t a crime, and you need to rescind this order immediately.

Let’s be clear, John, corporate media hasn’t always done a perfect job – with many outlets repeating government claims without scrutiny, avoiding stories that’d upset advertisers, and looking the other way on the revolving door between the Pentagon and arms manufacturers.

But now, Pete Hegseth wants to make access journalism the only legal way to report the news.

And if he’d gotten his way in the past, there’d be no reporting on scandals like the Pentagon Papers, or prisoner abuse at Abu Gharib, or sexual assault in the military.

The Pentagon’s decisions affect soldiers and civilians alike, and can even bring our nation to war. You and I deserve to know what’s happening behind the walls of power – and in a democracy, an independent, fearless press is the only way to deliver that.

A former Fox News personality like Pete Hegseth ought to understand this – that’s why press freedom is called out by name in the First Amendment!

But Hegseth isn’t reading our Constitution… he’s taking cues from dystopian fiction like 1984 or totalitarian states like North Korea, where the only information people get is what’s been approved by the people in charge.

That’s not how things work in America. Here, anyone who holds public office needs to be honest with the people, face scrutiny from an independent press, and understand that they’re here to serve us – not themselves or their billionaire friends.

Pete Hegseth is trying to strongarm our country’s journalists into doing his bidding – will you speak out and tell him it’s not going to happen? Demand he rescind this order today.

Thanks for all you do,

The team at Common Cause