White House faces legal bid
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s administration is trying to fend off a legal challenge from CNN and other outlets over the revocation of journalist Jim Acosta’s White House “hard pass”.
CNN is seeking an immediate restraining order that would force the White House to return Acosta’s press credentials – which grant reporters as-needed access to the 18-acre complex.
Acosta has repeatedly clashed with Trump and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in briefings over the past two years. But the dynamic devolved into a near-shouting match during a combative press conference last week.
Acosta refused to give up a microphone when the president said he didn’t want to hear anything more from him. Trump called Acosta a “rude, terrible person”.
The White House announced that Acosta’s White House access would be revoked. The CNN lawsuit calls the revocation “an unabashed attempt to censor the press and exclude reporters from the White House who challenge the president’s point of view”. Thirteen news organisations, including Fox News, filed an amicus brief Wednesday in support of CNN. Justice Department lawyer James Burnham argued that Acosta was guilty of “inappropriate grandstanding” and refusing to comply with the general standards of a press conference.
The network’s lawyer, Theodore Boutrous, contended that Acosta was being singled out for his body of work.
The White House has maintained that it has “broad discretion” to regulate press access to the White House.
Trump himself was uncertain how the court fight would end, saying: “Is it freedom of the press when somebody comes in and starts screaming questions and won’t sit down?” He said that “guys like Acosta” were “bad for the country”. “He’s just an average guy who’s a grandstander who’s got the guts to stand up and shout.”
The White House’s explanations for why it seized Acosta’s credentials have shifted over the last week. Sanders initially accused Acosta of making improper physical contact with the intern seeking to grab the microphone.