Trump detonated a constitutional bomb on Friday afternoon when he unceremoniously banned three news outlets from White House press access. In a social media post, of course. Trump didn’t even bother citing concrete reasons for singling out CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, just his go-to “FAKE NEWS!” screech. What’s stupidly obvious to the rest of us is that “fake news” is Trump’s stand-in for any coverage he doesn’t like, basically any honest coverage of him. On Saturday, reporters from all three outlets showed up onsite at the White House to do their jobs; all of them were denied entry and had their passes disabled. I had no doubt the outlets would sue in response, which they did Monday morning. What is significant, is that they’ve all banded together to file jointly. From The Associated Press, who’ve danced this same dance with Trump over access:
On Monday morning, the banned TV networks were reporting from an intersection just outside the White House complex. CNN, meanwhile, was removed from its pool duties, which are shared by the five major networks. It had been scheduled to cover the president’s trip to New York for the U.N. General Assembly. In an email to members, the TV pool wrote there would be no replacement coverage following the White House actions.
“Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President,” said the email, seen by The Associated Press. “This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place.”
CNN’s chief White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins, explained on air that this meant: “When the president does anything today, there will be no TV camera with the president that is broadcasting and sharing this footage” to the viewing public.
The White House did not respond directly to a request for comment on the lawsuit. But in a news release, it said of the three banned outlets: “The First Amendment protects their right to publish; it does not entitle them to a hard pass, briefing room seat, or place in the press pool.”
…”This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” the outlets said in a joint statement posted early Monday on X. “Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”
In the joint complaint, accompanied by a separate request for a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of the bans, the outlets said: “This ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles.”
They said they’re being banned from doing their jobs at the White House “for one simple reason: (Trump) dislikes the content of the coverage of him and his administration.”
“But the Constitution does not allow a president or any other government official to deprive the press of their First Amendment rights and liberty and property interests with no notice or process based solely on his dislike of the content of their reporting.”
In legal terms, that’s known as “viewpoint discrimination” — the government singling out specific media outlets for the content of what they say or publish. … The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, whom Trump nominated during his first term in the White House.
“The First Amendment protects their right to publish; it does not entitle them to a hard pass, briefing room seat, or place in the press pool,” says this administration. It’s true, the White House does not have to open its doors to the press. Here’s what they’re intentionally ignoring, though: as long as one outlet is let in, then the White House is bound to let everyone in. They cannot discriminate and cherry pick outlets deemed favorable. And as I live and breathe, I never thought I’d see in #WorstTimeline the press rallying around their own so solidly. Yesterday I kept saying, “EVEN Fox News!” I’m equally ecstatic over the pool networks standing in solidarity with CNN. Not only because I’m laughing my donkey off watching the mic-less videos of Trump today (really, all Trump videos should be without sound). But more importantly, because of how frickin’ long we’ve been waiting for institutions to use their strength in numbers to stand up to this hack! Finally!! Also, while this is a prime First Amendment case, CNN, MS NOW, and Politico are also suing for a violation of due process under the Fifth Amendment. This is exactly what CNN’s Jim Acosta did when Trump banned him in 2018. In that case, the judge sided with Acosta on the Fifth Amendment grounds. That judge? Timothy Kelly, who’s just been assigned this new case. Let’s f–king go.
