The Pentagon has defended banning reporters from its press office by turning it into a classified room.In the Trump administration’s latest move to hinder the media’s access to the Defense Department, the press office has been redesignated as a “Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility,” Acting Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez announced on X Monday.Valdez said the switch-up was made because speechwriters from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office share the office, and they “routinely handle classified material and require SIPRNet access.”SIPRNet, which stands for Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, allows the Defense Department and State Department to share classified information, according to The Hill. The Pentagon has defended banning reporters from its press office by turning it into a classified room (AFP via Getty Images)“As a result, journalists will no longer be permitted to enter the office space. There’s nothing controversial about that,” Valdez said. Valdez’s announcement was in response to a Washington Post story breaking the news about the redesignation. The story reported that the new designation would ban journalists from accessing the press office to ask public affairs officers questions. “This is the most transparent War Department in history. No amount of spin from the Fake News media will change that,” Valdez said as he defended the Trump administration’s controversial move. “Access to the office of the Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs @SeanParnellASW and to the Press Secretary remains available by appointment only,” Valdez added. The Independent has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.The Trump administration said the switch-up was due to Pentagon speechwriters needing to ‘routinely handle classified material’ (AFP via Getty Images)In October, dozens of reporters turned in their Pentagon press badges after rejecting new rules imposed by Hegeseth that ask journalists not to report information that hasn’t been approved for release or risk losing access to the Defense Department. Journalists would also need an escort from the Defense Department to access certain areas of the Pentagon under the new rules. “Yes, you can be in the press area, briefing room, but if you want to move around the building, you’re going to have a badge, it’s going to be cleared, you’re going to be escorted when you do so, and we have expectations that you’re not soliciting classified or sensitive information,” Hegseth told Fox News at the time. “I think the American people see things like that as absolute common sense. The Pentagon press corps can squeal all they want,” he said.The new rules were widely rejected by the mainstream media, even by conservative-leaning outlets Fox News, where Hegseth used to host a weekend program, and Newsmax. This is a developing story...