CNN, MS NOW and Politico have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration after the president barred reporters from the White House over coverage he dismissed as “Fake News.”
In a 27-page complaint filed Monday, attorneys for the outlets called the move “a direct assault on the First Amendment” and “a blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles.”
The case was brought in federal court in Washington and names President Donald Trump, chief of staff Susie Wiles, communications director Steven Cheung and Secret Service Director Sean Curran as defendants.
The outlets are asking a judge to halt the ban immediately and require the White House to return the reporters’ hard passes, which were confiscated at the gates on Saturday.
Trump announced on Truth Social on Friday that all three organizations were barred “effective immediately,” warning that “other Fake News Media Outlets” could face similar treatment.
The complaint alleges that Trump excluded the outlets “for one simple reason: He dislikes the content of their coverage of him and his administration.”
The lawyers further argued that Trump has made clear he would rather be covered by news organizations and journalists who praise his administration.
They said the president’s favored label, “Fake News,” is typically directed not at demonstrably false reports but at coverage he finds unfavorable.
CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins in the White House Press Briefing Room on September 3
The decision effectively blocked entire news organizations from the White House. According to the lawsuit, 40 CNN journalists and 22 MS NOW reporters held hard passes at the time.
CNN reporter Betsy Klein, who has covered the White House since 2018, said she was informed at the gate Saturday morning that her pass had been deactivated. A Secret Service officer then took the pass from her.
When MS NOW reporter Akayla Gardner asked why her pass had been disabled, the officer told her the decision was “above” him before confiscating it. Politico’s Cheyenne Haslett was also denied entry and had her pass taken.
CNN had been scheduled to lead the television pool on Monday, but the network was removed from the lineup in White House guidance issued at 10:55 p.m. Sunday, the complaint says.
The lawsuit also rejected Trump’s allegation that Politico received an “illegal” $8 million government subsidy under President Joe Biden, describing the claim as “categorically false and debunked.”
“The President’s ban is just such a raw exercise of unbridled discretion to exclude disfavored media organizations from the White House,” the attorneys wrote.
They warned that every day the policy remains in place harms both the plaintiffs and the public in ways that cannot later be remedied, adding that the ban “must be restrained.”
Trump appeared unconcerned Friday when asked whether the ban would withstand a legal challenge. “Well, we’ll see,” he replied.
He added: “I mean, I don’t think a court should allow, depends on the judge you get, to be honest with you.”
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said the ban was not triggered by any single article. Instead, he blamed what he called “cumulative stories over the last two years.”
“You get sick of it,” he said.
‘I don’t want them in my office. I don’t want them here. I would say the ban would go as far as you can, and if they could straighten themselves out, I’d love it.’
President Donald Trump speaks at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, Friday, July 24
CNN Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein reports near the White House complex Saturday after having her credential was revoked by Donald Trump
The president insisted he supports a free press but said, ‘you need a fair and honest press.’
‘It’s sick. I mean, there’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stuff. Now, if they want to write them, that’s fine. But I don’t have to let them into my, into the people’s house,’ he said.
The outlets are on familiar legal ground. In 2018, a federal judge ordered the White House to restore CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s press pass after it was pulled following a heated exchange with Trump.
The Associated Press was barred from the Oval Office and Air Force One last year after refusing to adopt the ‘Gulf of America’ name for the Gulf of Mexico.
A federal judge sided with the AP, but an appeals court later paused that ruling.
After the suit was announced Monday, Trump posted on Truth Social: ‘The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America.
‘It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW! Thank you for your attention to this matter.’
