CNN, MS NOW and Politico have expanded their lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration, alleging that the White House is continuing to shut their reporters out of presidential press pools even after a federal judge ordered their press credentials restored.
In an amended complaint filed Wednesday, the three news organizations accused the administration of retaliating against them over their coverage of Trump. CNN says it has been excluded from six scheduled Air Force One pool assignments since the president’s Sept. 18 ban, while Politico says it was blocked from two. MS NOW, meanwhile, has not participated in the secondary television pool since the ban took effect.
But regaining their White House credentials hasn’t resolved the outlets’ fight over access to the president. The amended complaint seeks to restore their participation in the rotating press pools covering Air Force One and the Oval Office, arguing that the administration cannot exclude them because it objects to their reporting.
Those pools allow small groups of journalists to cover presidential events where space is limited, with their reporting shared more broadly among news organizations. Being excluded can leave outlets dependent on accounts from other reporters rather than allowing them to gather information directly.
The filing follows an Oct. 13 ruling by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who granted a preliminary injunction restoring the outlets’ White House credentials, finding they were likely to succeed on their First Amendment and due process claims. The Trump administration appealed the ruling the following day. That injunction, however, did not settle whether the outlets must be included in presidential press pools.
The White House rejected the outlets’ allegations. “The Fake News has no place demanding a spot in the President’s Oval Office. The lies they smear are a disservice to the American public and tear at the very fabric of our Democracy,” a White House official told TheWrap. The official added that reporters could cover the president from directly outside and reiterated the administration’s intention to appeal the earlier court decision.
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