CNN, MS NOW denied access to White House after Trump ‘ban’
By Brian Stelter, CNN
(CNN) — CNN reporter Betsy Klein was denied access at the White House on Saturday morning and her press pass was seized, one day after President Donald Trump announced that he was “banning” CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
First Amendment experts say the action is unconstitutional.
A reporter and photographer for MS NOW were also denied access to the White House grounds when they arrived to work Saturday morning.
Both CNN and MS NOW signaled they will take legal action to defend the rights of their reporters.
“Early today, CNN journalists were denied access to the White House grounds. CNN’s mission to report on the U.S. government will continue regardless of any attempts to restrict physical access to the White House and other government buildings, or any other attempts to impede our journalism,” CNN said in a statement. “We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right.”
Klein reported that a Secret Service agent said her press pass had been deactivated.
“I asked him if he could provide an explanation as to why it had been deactivated,” Klein recounted on-air to CNN’s Kasie Hunt on Saturday morning. “He said he had no further information. I asked him once more if he had any more details he could share with me, and he said that I should be referred to the White House Press Office.”
MS NOW correspondent Akayla Gardner similarly said that an “officer asked me to hand over my badge. He said that it was disabled. I asked why I was not able to get inside. He said it was above him.”
Gardner recounted what happened in a live report from outside the White House perimeter.
Trump said Friday afternoon that CNN, MS NOW and Politico were all banned, “effective immediately,” while complaining about “fake” news, his go-to phrase for dismissing unfavorable coverage.
Some White House staffers were caught off guard by the announcement. Journalists for the three news outlets remained at the White House through Friday evening.
But as they left the grounds for the day, they wondered if their security badges would work the next time, and MS NOW’s encounter on Saturday morning began to answer the question.
Gardner said her photographer colleague was also denied entry, but an MS NOW producer “scanned her badge, and it actually worked. She was able to get through and into the White House.”
Scores of journalists work from the White House campus on any given day.
MS NOW said in a statement Saturday morning that the network “intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy. We stand firmly behind our anchors, our reporters, and our newsroom. We will continue to report on the President, the administration, and the issues that impact the American people.”
On Friday, Bruce D. Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said “a ban like this would be flatly unconstitutional.”
“The First Amendment is clear that once the White House invites in some journalists, it can’t ban others because it doesn’t like their reporting,” Brown said. “This is textbook viewpoint discrimination and will be quickly struck down by the courts if challenged.”
Many commentators speculated that the president’s “ban” was an attempt to distract from a week of unfavorable headlines as the midterm elections approach. Trump currently faces mounting pressure over a highly unpopular war in Iran, along with rising gas prices and concerns about the cost of living.
Bashing the media has been a staple of Trump’s political messaging for a decade, and a surefire way to win cheers at MAGA rallies.
But in his second term, Trump has increasingly tried to translate those words into actions, taking concrete steps to limit press access even as his White House claims to be the most transparent in American history.
Clayton Weimers, the executive director of Reporters Without Borders North America, said, “The president is once again spewing lies about ‘fake news’ to try to control who covers him and where.”
“Press access is not a privilege for journalists,” Weimers said. “It’s a right to ensure the American people can be independently informed.”
The-CNN-Wire
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