The White House is planning to restrict CNN’s Jim Acosta from reporting inside the executive residence as soon as they’re legally able to do so.
Reporting from CNN’s Reliable Sources newsletter explained how the White House could restrict Acosta in the future. An email obtained by the news organization, sent to Acosta by the executive branch, indicated that the White House would revoke the credentials as soon as Judge Timothy Kelly’s order, issued last Friday, expires.
The restoration of Acosta’s credentials was issued by Kelly on a temporary basis. That order will expire at the end of November, meaning the White House could legally remove Acosta’s ability to report on the happenings of President Donald Trump while in the White House.
CNN released a statement decrying such a move.
“The White House is continuing to violate the First and 5th Amendments of the Constitution. These actions threaten all journalists and news organizations. Jim Acosta and CNN will continue to report the news about the White House and the President.”
It likely won’t come to that point, however, as CNN and representatives for the president will probably meet again in court this week to discuss extending an injunction allowing (or not allowing) Acosta to continue covering Trump on White House government property.
The reason the Trump White House is after Acosta’s press pass (and Trump calls CNN fake news and an enemy of the people) is that a free press is the enemy of the authoritarian leader — this is a test case, by Trump, with a possibly friendly judge! https://t.co/HeyqbDyXaV
— John W. Dean (@JohnWDean) November 19, 2018
If CNN is successful in extending the injunction, it could be a huge blow to the Trump White House, as it could result in extending Acosta’s rights to report there indefinitely, at least until the matter is resolved in federal court with a permanent ruling, according to additional reporting from CNN .
Acosta’s reporting credentials were restored last Friday. The temporary decision was itself a markedly decisive blow to the Trump administration’s assertions that it can restrict journalists on whatever whims it deems proper — especially given the fact that Judge Kelly was, himself, an appointment made by the president, per previous reporting from the Inquisitr .
The process for credentialing a journalist is a tedious one, but a process nonetheless that rarely involves the White House deciding who can or cannot report on the president. A journalist who obtains credentials from the Standing Committee of Correspondents to get a congressional press pass, who establishes that they report for a company that has no special interests or lobbyist ties, and who passes a background check conducted by the Secret Service, is allowed to report inside the White House as part of the press pool if their organization decides they want them to do so.
