CNN, MS NOW and Politico sue White House over revoked credentials

CNN, MS NOW and Politico filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday after being barred from White House coverage, according to The Hill and The Guardian US. In a joint statement reported by The Hill, the three outlets said they had notified the government of the filing in order to protect their First Amendment rights, and that the White House had revoked their journalists' credentials without notice or process because it objected to their reporting. The Hill said the ban was announced last week, while The Guardian said President Donald Trump announced it on Friday and cited unfavorable coverage of his administration. Fox News, CBS, ABC and NBC subsequently said they would not take part in the television pool covering Trump, and a Monday ribbon-cutting for a new South Lawn helipad at the White House took place without pool cameras, leaving Trump's remarks inaudible, according to The Hill.

The Hill reported that CNN had been scheduled to serve as the out-of-town television pool for Trump's trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly before the ban. The Guardian described the exclusion of the three outlets from the White House as a surprise decision.

In the joint statement cited by The Hill, the outlets said the White House revoked their credentials without notice or process because it objected to their reporting, and that, left unchallenged, the move threatens press freedom and the public's right to independent journalism free from government interference.

Trump responded in posts on Truth Social. The Hill reported that he wrote he was not mounting an assault on the free press but rather what he called 'FAKE NEWS.' The Guardian reported a separate post in which Trump said the case would almost certainly go to appeal, criticized the presiding judge, Tim Kelly, noting that Kelly had ruled in favor of journalist Jim Acosta in a 2018 CNN lawsuit, and said outlets that write negatively and publish what he described as false and defamatory stories based on unnamed sources should not have access to the office.

According to The Hill, Fox News, CBS, ABC and NBC announced they would not participate in the television pool covering Trump. The Guardian reported that other White House television pool members paused coverage of Trump in solidarity.

At the helipad ribbon-cutting, Trump was seen cutting a ribbon and speaking with construction workers, but his remarks could not be heard, The Hill reported. A Newsmax host noted during the outlet's coverage that no microphone was present because pool cameras were absent, and described the situation as an example of the boycott 'backfiring just a little bit,' according to The Hill. A microphone from NewsNation, The Hill's sister station, also did not pick up clear audio.

The Guardian reported that The Washington Post said it would not publish photographs of that day's presidential events, including Trump's departure from the White House and his appearances at the United Nations in New York, until midnight Eastern Time, joining a collective effort with photographers in other newsrooms in support of the banned outlets. The Guardian said it was unclear which other outlets, if any, had joined the moratorium.

An entry in The Guardian's live coverage listed Vice President JD Vance as saying he considered Trump's White House media bans 'totally appropriate.'

Where sources differ

• The Hill says Trump announced the ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico 'last week,' while The Guardian says he announced it on Friday.
• The Hill describes the outlets as barred 'from the White House grounds'; The Guardian describes the ban as barring them from 'the White House.'

• No source establishes whether a court has ruled on the lawsuit, set a hearing date, or otherwise responded to the filing, which court the case was filed in, or what specific legal claims beyond First Amendment rights it asserts.
• No source quotes a response to the lawsuit from the White House press office, the Justice Department, or any administration official other than Trump's Truth Social posts.
• The Guardian says it is unclear which other outlets, if any, joined The Washington Post's roughly eight-hour moratorium on publishing photographs of Trump.
• No source establishes the full extent of the pool boycott, whether it covered still photography as well as television, or how long it lasted.
• No source establishes whether other news organisations were barred, warned, or threatened with loss of access.
• No source establishes the current status of the revoked credentials or whether the ban remains in effect.
• Four of the six supplied sources report on matters unrelated to the credentials dispute — planned US sanctions against the International Criminal Court, proposed White House oversight of National Institutes of Health grants, Trump's remarks on regulating AI, and a federal appeals court ruling on third-country removals — and contain nothing about this event.

1. Daily Montanan — original — by Ariana Figueroa
2. The Hill — by Julia Manchester
3. Business Insider — by Brent D. Griffiths
4. The Guardian US — by Tom Ambrose
5. Al Jazeera English — by Al Jazeera Staff
6. Arab News — by AFP

Read the original at Daily Montanan

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