The White House Correspondents’ Association went to court Thursday to side with CNN in its battle with President Trump, submitting an amicus brief arguing the White House does not have unbridled power to exclude rambunctious reporters.
The association, made up of journalists and news organizations that provide coverage of the president, said a judge should order the White House to restore the press pass to Jim Acosta, a CNN reporter whose credentials were stripped after he sparred with the president and chopped his hand at a female intern last week.
“The White House is the People’s House, and the First Amendment does not permit the president to pick and choose which journalists do — and do not — cover him there,” the association wrote in its brief.
White House Communications Director Mercedes Schlapp wouldn’t comment on the lawsuit Thursday but said the intern was left shaken by the encounter with Mr. Acosta at a press conference in the East Room.
“She felt intimated, she was very shooken [sic] up by the incident,” Mrs. Schlapp said at a forum hosted by The Washington Post. “This reporter crossed the line. There was clearly disrespect in this area, and action was taken.”
Asked if the White House was planning to bar other reporters, Mrs. Schlapp replied, “I’m not going to get into any internal deliberations that are happening. At this point, this particular incident is the one we’re focusing on. We don’t appreciate the fact that our White House intern felt the way she felt in this situation.”
CNN sued on Tuesday to seek restoration of Mr. Acosta’s pass, and a judge held a hearing Wednesday. He had suggested a ruling would come Thursday afternoon, but has delayed it until Friday morning.
The White House, which is being defended by the Justice Department, called the lawsuit “grandstanding.” In its briefs, the government said it would be impossible to allow the public to decide who can and who can’t enter the White House, saying the president must maintain some gatekeeper’s role.
More immediately, the government lawyers said, there is no urgent harm in denying Mr. Acosta a press pass, since CNN has nearly 50 other journalists credentialed to cover the White House.
The administration said Mr. Trump gave his personal blessing to the decision to strip Mr. Acosta’s pass after a press conference last week in which Mr. Acosta and the president engaged in verbal combat and the reporter refused to give up the microphone after the president had answered several of Mr. Acosta’s questions.
When an intern tried to collect the microphone, grasping at it, Mr. Acosta used his free hand to chop down on her elbow, seemingly to prevent her from controlling the microphone.
The correspondents’ association said its other reporters may fear asking questions Mr. Trump might not like.
“White House correspondents would have to choose between avoiding reporting or questioning that could upset the president, on the one hand, and risking the loss of a hard pass — a requirement to do their job — on the other hand,” the association argued.
The administration counters that it wasn’t punishing Mr. Acosta for rude or probing questions — he has asked plenty of those over the past 22 months. Rather, he lost his pass because of his disruptions, the government said.
At the very least Mr. Acosta was entitled to due process before having the pass stripped, the correspondents’ association says.
Several Washington Times reporters are members of the WHCA. The association did not consult them before taking the legal action.
Olivier Knox, the president of the association, said in a statement last week that the association will not police Mr. Acosta’s “purported” or “perceived” offense. But Mr. Knox, who covers the White House for SiriusXM radio, did say the administration’s reaction to the altercation was “unacceptable.”
“Such interactions, however uncomfortable they may appear to be, help define the strength of our national institutions,” he said.
• Dave Boyer contributed to this report.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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