Epoch Times Reporter Resigns After Publication Signs Pentagon Rules

A national security reporter at the right-wing Epoch Times newspaper has resigned after the publication signed on to rules restricting news gathering within the Pentagon.

The reporter, Andrew Thornebrooke, submitted his resignation in writing on Friday. Although he did not have an active Pentagon press pass, he regularly covered issues related to the Defense Department and frequently reported from the cavernous military complex while working at the publication.

In his resignation email, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Thornebrooke called The Epoch Times’s signing of the pledge a choice to “abdicate our responsibility as journalists in favor of merely repeating state narratives.”

He also cited a recent editorial directive to refer to antifa, the far-left ideological movement, as a terrorist organization. There is no designation for domestic terrorism under existing U.S. law. The editorial change came soon after President Trump signed an executive order designating antifa a terrorist group.