Overview

• One America News fired chief Pentagon correspondent Gabrielle Cuccia on May 30 after she publicly challenged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new press access restrictions in a May 27 Substack post.
• A Defense Department memo issued May 23 requires official escorts for journalists entering designated Pentagon corridors and briefing rooms, ending decades of unescorted reporting.
• Cuccia argued that the policy shifts undermine transparency and accountability, echoing similar objections from the Pentagon Press Association.
• OAN did not respond to inquiries about whether Pentagon officials influenced the network’s decision or if internal pressures prompted her dismissal.
• Cuccia’s background as a Trump White House aide and outspoken MAGA commentator made her critique of a Republican-aligned defense secretary particularly contentious.