US Cong bans Russia RT Moscow mulls tit- for- tat in Russia- US media spat
■ Cut from press corps for ‘ foreign agent’ status
Washington, Nov. 30: Russian television group RT lost its credentials to cover the US Congress on Thursday after the US government forced it to register as a “foreign agent.”
In the latest fallout from Russia’s alleged interference in last year’s Presidential election, the committee of journalists which regulates who is accredited to cover the US legislature told RT that they had voted unanimously to withdraw its Congressional press pass.
“The action was taken in response to the registration of RT Network’s operating company, T& R Productions LLC, as a foreign agent,” Craig Caplan, chair of the Executive Committee of the Congressional Radio & Television Correspondents’ Galleries, told RT in a letter.
Under the Moscow, Nov. 30: A senior Russian lawmaker says that US media could lose access to government agencies in retaliation for the withdrawal of a Kremlin- funded television station's credentials in the United States.
A committee that governs Capitol Hill access for broadcast journalists on Wednesday withdrew credentials for Kremlinfunded RT after the company complied earlier this month with a U. S. demand
rules, news credentials “may not be issued to any applicant employed ‘ by any foreign government or representative thereof ’,” he said.
The justice department had ordered RT to register its American operations that it register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the committee on information policy at the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, told the RIA Novosti news agency on Thursday that “a mirror response should follow.” foreign correspondents in Russia can access govern agencies with their press credentials issued by the Russian foreign ministry. — AP
as a “foreign agent,” a designation used for lobbyists for foreign governments.
That came after US intelligence agencies said that RT was the Kremlin’s principal international propaganda outlet. — AFP