White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that her office restricted free-roaming media access after catching reporters secretly recording staff conversations.
The White House now bars reporters from entering the press secretary’s Upper Press office without an appointment, citing security concerns after decades of unrestricted access. In an interview with “Pod Force One,” Leavitt told Miranda Devine the change came after multiple incidents involving reporters loitering around sensitive information inside Upper Press.
“We have taken over the responsibilities of the National Security Council, thanks to the restructuring of Secretary Rubio when he became National Security Advisor. Steven Cheung and I are responsible for all communications matters, including national security,” Leavitt said. “And so we felt it became very inappropriate for reporters to be loitering around sensitive information in our offices. And we did, unfortunately, catch some unruly reporters recording us without our permission, listening in on conversations, eavesdropping.”
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Leavitt said the White House imposed appointment-only access to Upper Press after reporters began hovering outside morning staff meetings.
“We’d have staff meetings in the morning. Some of the reporters started to pick up on that, and we’d walk out and they would be out there trying to listen. You know, if Secretary Rubio or the chief want to come in and brief us on something, you’d have reporters out there heckling them, and it just became an inappropriate work environment,” Leavitt said. “And so now they’re welcome up here, but it’s by appointment only. And so a lot of the outrage you’re seeing on Twitter, they’ve told us privately they’re OK with how this system works so long as they can still have appointments with me to understand the news of the day.”
Leavitt added she still gives reporters as much access as her schedule allows, saying that she splits much of her day between the Oval Office.
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“I give them as much time as I possibly can on my schedule. Although a lot of my time is with the president and in the Oval Office and sitting in on meetings. So I try to devote as much time as I can to the press because that is my job, right? The basic duty is for me to work with the press and make sure they’re telling the truth out there,” Leavitt said.
Assistant to the President and White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung also defended the move, saying the White House imposed the restrictions after catching reporters secretly recording video and audio inside the West Wing. He added that some journalists even slipped into restricted rooms and tried to eavesdrop on private meetings.
“Press still has access to lower press where the press team sits and can answer all inquiries. Reporters can make appointments to see us in our offices,” Cheung wrote.
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