CNN takes Don to court
CNN sued the Trump administration Tuesday in an effort to have White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s press credentials restored after he was banned for tussling with an intern during a heated news conference with the president.
The federal lawsuit filed in Washington, DC, alleges that the suspension of Acosta’s “hard pass” violates his and CNN’s First Amendment rights.
In addition to the president, the other defendants are chief of staff John Kelly, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, deputy chief of staff for communications Bill Shine, Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy and the agency’s unidentified officer who pulled Acosta’s pass.
The White House dismissed the complaint as “grandstanding” by CNN, which Trump frequently assails as “fake news.”
The administration, which yanked Acosta’s pass “until further notice,” accused him of “placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern” during the press conference.
The intern moved to take the microphone from Acosta, but he pulled it back while continuing to question the president, saying, “Pardon me, ma’am.”
Sanders later tweeted a video clip of the altercation between Acosta and the young woman in which his arm motion appeared to have been sped up to make it look like he struck her.
The White House has defended the video, but did not address claims that it got it from far-right-wing Web site InfoWars.
“The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acosta’s First Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their Fifth Amendment rights to due process,” CNN said in a statement.
In a statement, Sanders said the White House will “vigorously” defend against the suit.
“CNN, who has nearly 50 additional hard pass holders, and Mr. Acosta is no more or less special than any other media outlet or reporter with respect to the First Amendment,” she said.
“This was not the first time this reporter has inappropriately refused to yield to other reporters,” Sanders added. “The White House cannot run an orderly and fair press conference when a reporter acts this way, which is neither appropriate nor professional.”
The White House Correspondents’ Association backed the lawsuit.
“The president of the United States should not be in the business of arbitrarily picking the men and women who cover him,” said Olivier Knox, the group’s president.