CNN sues Trump over the suspension of Jim Acosta's White House press credentials

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-lb-767-49603-la-fi-cnn-trump-lawsuit-
20181113-htmlstory.html

CNN said Tuesday that it is suing President Trump and other administration
officials over the decision to suspend the White House press credentials
of correspondent Jim Acosta after a conflict at a news conference last
week.

The suit, to be filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia,
escalates an ongoing battle between Trump and the cable news outlet that
he frequently accuses of disseminating “fake news” for its aggressive
coverage of him and his administration.

“The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acosta’s
1st Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their 5th Amendment
rights to due process,” CNN said in a written statement. “If left
unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous
chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials.”

The suit requests “immediate restoration” of Acosta’s “hard pass,” a press
credential issued by the Secret Service that allows reporters access to
the White House grounds, parts of the West Wing and secured areas during
presidential trips.

The White House Correspondents Assn., a group of journalists covering the
White House, and PEN America, an organization of writers promoting human
rights and literature, are backing CNN.

Suspending Acosta’s pass “was retaliation, plain and simple,” Bruce Brown,
executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press,
said Tuesday. “President Trump is entitled to hold a negative view of
Acosta or any other journalist … but President Trump’s revocation of
Acosta’s credentials is, simply put, out of line.”

The group, which provides legal help to journalists to protect their 1st
Amendment rights, filed a brief supporting CNN. It says the White House
move “aims to chill the constitutionally protected speech and
newsgathering activity of other journalists.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the suit “just
more grandstanding from CNN” and said the White House “will vigorously
defend” against it.

CNN has nearly 50 holders of hard passes and “Mr. Acosta is no more or
less special than any other media outlet or reporter with respect to the
1st Amendment,” Sanders said.

Trump has criticized CNN since the 2016 presidential campaign. Last year,
he posted on Twitter a professional-wrestling promotion video clip altered
to show him body-slamming and punching a person with the CNN logo for a
head.

As CNN’s senior White House correspondent, Acosta frequently has been
front and center in the dispute.

At a news conference Wednesday, Trump called on Acosta to ask a question,
and Acosta was given a microphone. He began asking about Trump’s
statements during the midterm campaign that a caravan of migrants moving
toward the United States from Central America constituted an invasion.

Trump objected to the question, and the two sparred verbally back and
forth. When Acosta tried to ask another question, Trump told him several
times “that’s enough.” A female White House intern tried to take the
microphone away from Acosta as Trump told him, “Put down the mic.”

Acosta initially refused. Video shows Acosta gripping a microphone as the
intern tried to pry it away during the Wednesday event, and saying
politely, “Excuse me, ma’am,” as he maneuvered to keep his hold.

Trump refused to answer Acosta’s follow-up question, telling him, “CNN
should be ashamed of itself having you working for them. You are a rude,
terrible person. You shouldn't be working for CNN.”

Later on Wednesday, Sanders issued a statement saying the White House was
suspending Acosta’s hard pass “until further notice.” Sanders said that
Acosta “placed his hands” on the intern and that his conduct was
“absolutely unacceptable.”

The suit — which is being filed on behalf of Acosta as well as CNN —
denies that allegation and says the suspension of Acosta’s pass means he
effectively cannot do his job.

“This severe and unprecedented punishment is the culmination of years of
hostility by President Trump against CNN and Acosta based on the contents
of their reporting — an unabashed attempt to censor the press and exclude
reporters from the White House who challenge and dispute the President’s
point of view,” the suit says.

The suit says the suspension of Acosta’s credentials violates the 1st
Amendment’s protection of free speech. It says the way the administration
revoked the pass, with no direct notice to Acosta or a written explanation
detailing the decision, violated the 5th Amendment’s protection of due
process and the federal Administrative Procedures Act.

The suit cites a 1977 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia involving the White House’s years-long denial of a request for
a hard pass by Robert Sherrill, the Washington correspondent for the
Nation magazine, a left-leaning publication.

The ruling in Sherrill vs. Knight said that “the protection afforded
newsgathering under the 1st Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press …
requires that this access not be denied arbitrarily or for less than
compelling reasons.” The court said a reporter denied a hard pass must be
given “notice of the factual bases for denial, an opportunity … to respond
to these, and a final written statement of the reasons for denial.”

The CNN suit names Trump and Sanders along with White House Chief of Staff
John F. Kelly; Bill Shine, the deputy chief of staff who handles
communications; and Randolph Alles, director of the Secret Service.

To justify its decision to suspend Acosta’s credentials in the wake of an
outcry, Sanders posted a video clip on Twitter on Thursday of the intern
trying to take the microphone away from him.

“The question is: did the reporter make contact or not?” she said in a
statement, backing off the earlier contention that Acosta had placed his
hands on the intern. “The video is clear, he did. We stand by our
statement.”

But the video, which reportedly came from the right-wing conspiracy
website Infowars.com, only inflamed the controversy. It was doctored to
amplify the contact between Acosta and the intern, with the speed altered
to make Acosta appear to chop hard at her arm.

The suit says that Acosta did not initiate the physical contact with the
intern and that she had “attempted to grab the microphone” from him.

“The staffer reached all the way across Acosta’s body, successfully
latched onto the microphone, and physically attempted to remove it from
Acosta’s right hand,” the suit says. “Acosta held onto the microphone,
stated ‘Pardon me, ma’am,’ and continued to ask his question.”

In reaction to the suit Tuesday, Sanders appeared to pull back again on
the earlier justification for suspending Acosta’s hard pass, saying Acosta
“physically refused to surrender a White House microphone to an intern, so
that other reporters might ask their questions.”

“This was not the first time this reporter has inappropriately refused to
yield to other reporters,” she said. “The 1st Amendment is not served when
a single reporter, of more than 150 present, attempts to monopolize the
floor. If there is no check on this type of behavior it impedes the
ability of the president, the White House staff, and members of the media
to conduct business.”

CNN said in its suit that the incident with the intern was simply an
excuse by the White House to punish Acosta.

“The content and viewpoint of CNN’s and Acosta’s reporting on the Trump
administration — not his interaction with the staffer at the November 7
press conference — were the real reason the White House indefinitely
revoked his press credentials,” the suit says.

11:05 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from Bruce Brown of the
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and additional details from
the lawsuit.

8:50 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details from the
lawsuit and White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ comment,
and with additional background information.

7:55 a.m.: This article was updated with comment from Sanders.

7:35 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with Times staff reporting.

This article was originally published at 6:55 a.m.


--
Donald J. Trump, 304 electoral votes to 227, defeated compulsive liar in
denial Hillary Rodham Clinton on December 19th, 2016. The clown car
parade of the democrat party ran out of gas and got run over by a Trump
truck.

Congratulations President Trump. Thank you for cleaning up the disaster
of the Obama presidency.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp.

ObamaCare is a total 100% failure and no lie that can be put forth by its
supporters can dispute that.

Obama jobs, the result of ObamaCare. 12-15 working hours a week at minimum
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be funded with money people don't have, yet liberals lie about how great
it is.

Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion in the eight
years he was in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood queer
liberal democrat donors.