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CENTCOM official confirmed secret blacklist of journalists who call the command too often

On August 24, 2026, The Intercept reported that a U.S. Central Command public affairs official, Richard Allee, confirmed on the record that the command maintains a secret internal list of journalists to "disregard," and told an Intercept reporter he could be added to it for calling too often. CENTCOM's press office separately denied in writing that any "blacklist" exists, directly contradicting Allee's own on-record confirmation.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Tampa, Florida

Abuses documented

Actors

On August 24, 2026, The Intercept reported that a U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) public affairs official confirmed on the record that the command maintains a secret internal list of journalists it will not engage with. Richard Allee, an executive assistant with CENTCOM Public Affairs, made the admission after an Intercept reporter called back repeatedly following two hours on hold and a CENTCOM media-operations chief's refusal to answer questions about Iranian strikes on U.S. bases, disputed U.S. casualty counts, and medical evacuation flights. Asked directly, "You have a list of people to disregard?" Allee confirmed it: "Yes." He declined to say who is currently on the list, saying only, "It's not a list that we publicize."

CENTCOM's press office separately responded by email to further questions about the practice, writing, "CENTCOM does not have a 'blacklist.'" A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity told the outlet that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's office had a standing order not to engage with the reporter and would deny it if challenged. Seth Stern, director of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, called the practice unconstitutional: "Threatening journalists with placement on a blacklist in retaliation for reporting the government doesn't like is as unconstitutional as it gets."

The admission follows a broader pattern of press-access restrictions across the Defense Department under Hegseth, including an escort requirement for journalists on Pentagon grounds and the reclassification of the Pentagon press office itself as inaccessible to reporters. CENTCOM's blacklist is a mechanism specific to that combatant command's own public affairs office, distinct from those Pentagon-level actions and not previously documented in the archive.

Why we recorded this

A functioning free press depends on officials answering to scrutiny rather than freezing out reporters for persistent questioning. A CENTCOM public affairs official confirmed on the record that the command keeps a secret list of journalists to disregard, and told a reporter he could be added to it for calling too often about U.S. casualties and civilian deaths in Iran -- while the command's own press office separately denied in writing that any such list exists. This archive records the admission because a standing, undisclosed mechanism for freezing out persistent critical reporters removes accountability precisely where it is most needed, and an on-record confirmation followed by a flat denial to the same publication compounds the opacity rather than resolving it.

Sources

  1. Pentagon Spokesperson Admits There's a Secret Blacklist of Journalists — The Intercept primary accessed August 24, 2026

See also