WASHINGTON – The State Department planned a press call for faith-based media Monday with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that excluded the traditional press.

“This is not an open press event. We are sorry about any confusion,” a State Department spokeswoman told The Post.

“The Department regularly engages in a broad array of media activities. Some of those engagements – Department press briefings, teleconferences on a myriad of policy issues, briefings and sprays by the Secretary of State and other officials – are open to any interested domestic or international press.”

“Other engagements are more targeted or designed for topic, region, or audience-specific media,” the spokeswoman continued. “This has always been the case.”

The call was on international religious freedom. And Pompeo was to take questions.

CNN’s State Department reporter Michelle Kosinski was the first to draw attention to the “special information call.” “But the State Dept press corps wasn’t invited. Being told it’s for ‘faith-based media only’ …” Kosinski tweeted

Reporters found out about the call when a member of the mainstream media was accidentally invited to join — and then disinvited.

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