CNN, MS NOW, Politico sue White House over lack of press access

“This ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles,” reads the suit, in part. “And the Constitution protects the liberty and property interests that news organizations and White House reporters have in their press credentials and the access those credentials afford them to cover the White House for the benefit of the public. No official can deprive Plaintiffs of those interests on a whim—with no notice, no process, and no warning—as the President did here.” 

In response to the episode, five other news outlets—ABC, NBC, CNN, CBS, and Fox News—suspended their pool coverage of the White House, according to The New York Times. “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government,” reads a shared statement. “No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”

We may not be lawyers here, but we’d imagine that these outlets have a pretty good case, given that this isn’t even the first time the President has tried and failed to pull a stunt like this during his second term. Last year, the Associated Press was banned from the White House briefing room for refusing to refer to the Gulf Of Mexico as the Gulf Of America; a judge had sided with them within a couple of months. In Trump’s first term, CNN’s Jim Acosta was also briefly banned before a judge reinstated his access. Still, per THR, Trump has suggested that the outcome of the potential litigation would depend on which judge ended up getting the case.