The White House on Friday agreed to allow CNN reporter Jim Acosta back in after a judge ruled that the journalist was improperly banned following a testy exchange at a news conference with US President Donald Trump.
“In response to the court, we will temporarily reinstate the reporter’s hard pass,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
However, she left open the possibility of seeking to remove Acosta’s access later and said new rules would be imposed “to ensure fair and orderly press conferences.”
Photo: Reuters
Trump said that “rules and regulations” were being drafted to govern such gatherings, where he or his representatives often accuse journalists — Acosta in particular — of being overly hostile.
“We have to practice decorum. We want total freedom of the press,” Trump told reporters, adding later in an interview with Fox News: “If he misbehaves, we’ll throw him out.”
Trump frequently speaks harshly to reporters, for example last week telling another CNN correspondent several times that her question was “stupid.”
In his ruling on Friday, Judge Timothy Kelly said that he had only found the procedure for expelling Acosta illegal and that free speech did not enter the equation.
“I want to be very clear that I have not determined that the First Amendment was violated,” he said in the Washington courtroom, adding that further hearings would be held on that aspect.
The US Department of Justice’s lawyer, James Burnham, argued that Acosta had “disrupted” last week’s news conference and that “there is no First Amendment right to access the White House.”
However, major media outlets took up Acosta’s cause. Tellingly, Trump’s most friendly outlet, Fox News, joined the suit calling for Acosta’s pass to be returned.
“We are gratified with this result and we look forward to a full resolution in the coming days,” CNN said in a statement. “Our sincere thanks to all who have supported not just CNN, but a free, strong and independent American press.”
Shortly after the ruling, Acosta returned to the White House, telling fellow journalists that “this was a test.”
“Journalists need to know that their First Amendment rights are sacred,” he said.
After the judge’s ruling, White House Correspondents’ Association president Olivier Knox cheered a decision that “made it clear that the White House cannot arbitrarily revoke a White House press pass.”
“We thank all of the news outlets and individual reporters who stood up in recent days for the vital role a free and independent news media plays in our republic,” he said.
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