The Department of War recently invited The American Conservative to be further integrated into its press operations. We have politely declined.

This invitation was conditioned on TAC accepting the department’s over-the-top press restrictions, including agreeing not to publish any confidential material that our affiliated reporters might acquire.

TAC is a special publication. The “street cred” that comes with being a prominent, Washington-based publication originally founded by conservatives against the Iraq War is one of the many reasons our readers come back to our coverage. We are firmly committed to honesty and completeness in our reporting; this, too, is a reason for our readers’ loyalty. 

Agreeing to preemptive publication restrictions on newsworthy material would be a betrayal of that trust. 

We are not in the stenography business. We join other conservative outlets such as Washington Examiner among many others in refusing to behave otherwise, even for an administration with which we have much common ground. 

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H.L. Mencken writes that the press is the permanent opposition; we think that’s as good a guiding motto as any.

TAC remains committed to presenting well-informed, well-reported, carefully written news and culture journalism of the highest editorial standards. We are deeply grateful for our many friends and supporters, and it is to them, not to any press office or administration, that we owe our allegiance. 

Thank you for your help as we continue to cover some of our lifetimes’ most exciting developments in American public life.