#Hegseth's Friday order also requires members of the #Pentagon #press corps to acknowledge a responsibility to protect national #intelligence & sensitive information, & says they will be issued with new credentials that more prominently identify them as members of the press.

"We also anticipate a forthcoming announcement of additional security measures & enhanced scrutiny on the issuance of (credentials)," the memo said.

The #Trump admin claims the move is intended to allow other media outlets the opportunity to report as resident members of the #press corps.

More broadly, the Trump admin has deployed #LieDetector tests to investigate unclassified #leaks, with some #DHS ofcls being told they could be fired for refusing polygraphs, Reuters reported on Friday. The WH says Trump will not tolerate leaks to the #media & that federal employees who do so should be held accountable.

Since #Trump returned to office, the #Pentagon has launched an investigation into #leaks that resulted in 3 ofcls being placed on leave [#Signalgate].

It has also required legacy media organizations, including the #NewYorkTimes, the #WashingtonPost, #CNN & #NBCNews, to vacate their Pentagon office spaces in a new *rotation system* that brought in others, including outlets generally friendly to the Trump admin such as the #NewYorkPost, #Breitbart, the #DailyCaller & #OANN.

"The decision is purportedly based on concerns about operational security. But the #Pentagon Press Corps has had access to non-secured, unclassified spaces in the Pentagon for decades, under Republican & Democratic administrations, including in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, without any concern about #OpSec from #DoD leadership," the stmnt said.

#Hegseth called the protection of #classified national #intelligence information & operational security "an unwavering imperative for the Department” [not in this admin].

The #Pentagon Press Association, a membership organization representing the interests of the #press corps covering the US #military, said the new rules appeared to be a "direct attack on the freedom of the press."

"While the Department remains committed to transparency, the Department is equally obligated to protect CSNI (#classified #intelligence) & sensitive information - the unauthorized disclosure of which could put the lives of US Service members in danger," #Hegseth said in a memo.

[laughable coming from a guy involved in the PC Houthi group chat & also a chat that included his wife & brother both of which divulged classified military operations over a commercial app. #Signalgate]

In Phoenix, Arizona, on Tues & Wed, #ICE arrested several people outside the #immigration #court.

Among them, Geovanni Francisco & his mother from Guerrero, Mexico, who entered the country LEGALLY in 2023, after making an appointment using the #Biden-era CBP One app, acc/to his aunt Hilda Ramirez. Their case was dismissed Wed morning, records show.

“They didn’t even give them a chance to gather their things,” said Ramirez, who accompanied her sister & nephew to their hearing.

The operation showcases a new strategy to speed up #deportations & bypass lengthier #immigration processes.

A senior #DHS official said the effort aimed to deport #immigrants allowed to enter the US under President Joe #Biden [because, ya know, revenge], a Democrat.

"#ICE is now following the law & placing these illegal *aliens* in expedited removal, as they always should have been," the official said in a statement.

@heidilifeldman My wife told me about a trend of women resigning from cowardly Trump-capitulating #law firms and starting women-owned (no one is above the) law firms. Can you confirm or comment?

If the #data was sensitive or confidential govt #information, the arrangement could violate #security & #privacy #law, said 5 specialists in #technology & govt #ethics.

It will also give #Tesla & #SpaceX CEO, #ElonMusk, access to valuable nonpublic…#data at agencies he…does business w/ or be used to help train #Grok…. #Musk could also gain an unfair competitive advantage over other #AI service providers from use of Grok in the federal govt, they added.

“They ask questions, get it to prepare reports, give data analysis,”the person said.

The second & third person said #DOGE staff also told #DHS officials to use it even though #Grok had not been approved in the dept.

Reuters could not determine the specific #data that had been fed into the generative #AI tool or how the custom system was set up. Grok was developed by #xAI, a #tech operation that #Musk launched in 2023 on X.

Such use of #Grok could reinforce concerns among #privacy advocates & others that #Musk's #DOGE team appears to be casting aside long-established protections over the handling of sensitive #data as #Trump …[destroys the US govt].

1 of the 3 people familiar w/the matter, who has knowledge of DOGE’s activities, said Musk's team was using a customized version of the Grok chatbot. The apparent aim was for DOGE to sift through data more efficiently, this person said.