CNN sues Trump team over Acosta ‘hard pass’

WASHINGTON — CNN sued the Trump administration on behalf of reporter Jim Acosta on Tuesday, asking a court to restore Acosta’s White House press pass after President Donald Trump suspended it last week.

The unusual lawsuit, an escalation of Trump’s long-running war of words with CNN, seeks a judge’s intervention after Trump banished Acosta from the White House grounds for an indefinite period after a brief altercation between Acosta and a White House press aide.

After a testy exchange between the president and the reporter, a press aide went up to Acosta to take a microphone out of his hands. As a result, press secretary Sarah Sanders announced a few hours later that the White House had revoked Acosta’s “hard pass,” which enables reporters to enter and leave the grounds each day.

Sanders called Acosta’s alleged behavior “unacceptable” and cited Acosta’s encounter with the press aide as the basis for yanking his credential. She tweeted an apparently doctored video of the incident.

CNN filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. “We have asked this court for an immediate restraining order requiring the pass be returned to Jim, and will seek permanent relief as part of this process,” the network said in a statement released Tuesday morning.

Legal experts say the network’s chances of winning in court are favorable. Although a court would likely give the president and Secret Service the benefit of the doubt if they barred a reporter due to security threats, the First Amendment protects journalists against arbitrary restrictions by government officials.

The suit names CNN and Acosta as plaintiffs. Trump, chief of staff John Kelly, deputy chief of staff for communications Bill Shine, Sanders and the U.S. Secret Service are named as defendants. It alleges a violation of the First Amendment, a violation of the Fifth Amendment, which guarantees due process in government actions, and a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. It asks for the immediate restoration of Acosta’s credential, or restoration pending a hearing before a “neutral” arbiter.

In a statement, Sanders called the suit “more grandstanding from CNN” and said the White House will “vigorously” defend itself.

“CNN, who (sic) 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.

She downplayed a physical altercation between Acosta and the press aide — the original reason the White House cited for the suspension — and instead said the suspension was because Acosta would not yield to other reporters.

Trump’s action appears to be unprecedented. There is no record of a president revoking such a pass from a reporter because he didn’t like the questions the reporter asked.