Pistol Pete's Perverse Priorities
Hegseth wants to criminalize journalism but legalize war crimes.
The Trump junta doesn’t spend a lot of time examining its own hypocrisies and inconsistencies, which helps explain this one: Performative Pete Hegseth’s Department of Kill ‘Em All, Let God Sort ‘Em Out wants to criminalize reporters’ questions, while decriminalizing illegal acts committed by U.S. military personnel.
From the Guardian, March 20:
Pentagon Wants It to Be Illegal for Reporters to Ask “Unauthorized” Questions
The Trump admin wants to criminalize a key part of journalists doing their jobs — a broadside attack on a free press.
A federal judge has blocked key portions of the Pentagon’s press access policy, siding with the New York Times and ruling that the Trump administration’s controversial policy was unconstitutional.
The policy, which was introduced in October, prohibited journalists from soliciting information that the defense department didn’t directly provide, and revoked the credentials of any outlet that didn’t sign on.
From the Intercept, March 26:
In response, the Pentagon on Monday added some meaningless window dressing and essentially reissued the same restrictions. The administration pledged to “immediately” appeal the decision on the original policy, and on Tuesday, the Times filed a motion to compel the administration to comply with the judge’s order.
Most discussion of the Pentagon’s restrictions has focused on their conditions for reporters to receive press credentials, which the Pentagon says can be revoked if reporters publish “unauthorized” information. That policy is wildly unconstitutional on its own, and every mainstream outlet gave up their press passes rather than sign on, leaving war coverage inside the Pentagon to the likes of Turning Point USA’s Frontlines and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s LindellTV streaming service.
But the Pentagon’s legal filings imply that reporters who don’t follow the rules risk more than their press passes. On March 12, the DOJ filed a brief to clarify its lawyers’ earlier comments in a discussion with [federal district Judge Paul Friedman] at a hearing of “whether asking a question was a criminal act.” The government argued that although journalists may lawfully ask questions of “authorized” Pentagon personnel, “a journalist does solicit the commission of a criminal act, and that solicitation is not protected by the First Amendment, when he or she solicits … non-public information from individuals who are legally obligated not to disclose that information.”
Recall that this is the same Heat-Packin’ Pete who wanted to prosecute Arizona Sen. and former Navy officer Mark Kelly — already guilty of being a Democrat — for seditious conspiracy after Kelly urged service members to refuse illegal orders. This should be a moot point. The Uniform Code of Military Justice not only allows but obligates service members to disobey illegal orders.
Kelly sued Hegseth in January, arguing that Hegseth had illegally tried to demote him in retaliation for criticizing the Trump junta. Demotion could slash Kelly’s retirement pay. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon agreed with Kelly and blocked Hegseth, who vowed to appeal. In February, a grand jury declined to return an indictment against Kelly and others facing the same spurious accusation.
What we’re seeing here is yet another MAGA mobster attempt to intimidate people and show that Hegseth, though actually Trump’s ventriloquist doll, runs the show and brooks no dissent. This is an old Trump tactic, learned at the feet of McCarthyite reptile Roy Cohn: If you want to scare your enemies or anyone who refuses to genuflect sufficiently, just throw a meritless lawsuit at them. It will fail, but your message will have gotten through, and that’s all that matters. You can always howl about radical-liberal judges afterward.
If anyone should be considered for criminal prosecution here, it’s Hegseth, as lawmakers of both parties suggested in November after he allegedly ordered a follow-up assault in September that killed survivors of a boat strike — itself of questionable legality — in international waters. His frat-bro gangsta threat to allow “no quarter, no mercy for our enemies” in Iran hints at future war crimes.
Trump would no doubt pardon the former Fox attack-dog for violations of U.S. law, but his pardon powers do not extend to international war crimes. Maybe this has something to do with Trump’s demand that the International Criminal Court effectively exempt himself and his servile consiglieri from prosecution.
Hegseth is expected to testify before the House Armed Services Committee on April 29. He better be studying that burn book.
A New York Moment
There’s something quintessentially Manhattan, and a little Hopper-esque, about the city’s traditional diners. (Photo by author.)
