CIA Director Mike Pompeo decided not to invite journalists to the annual party, violating the long-standing tradition, RIA Novosti reported referring to the Politico publication.

A party of CIA employees is held every year in December at the headquarters of the administration in Langley, Virginia. The staff, diplomats, politicians, as well as journalists are invited to attend the event, nonetheless, the list of guests is being adjusted from year to year.

The tradition of inviting media was violated in 2011, when David Petraeus, who was at the time the director of CIA, reduced the scale of the event due to “budget problems.” As the newspaper reports, in addition, the management could reject the journalist, who wrote an article that was not favored by the intelligence services.