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NY Times, TVWeek

White House Responds to CNN Lawsuit

Nov 13, 2018  •  Post A Comment

The White House responded today to a lawsuit from CNN seeking the reinstatement of reporter Jim Acosta’s White House press credentials.

Acosta’s credentials were pulled after a confrontation between Acosta and Donald Trump at a press conference. Acosta was accused of interfering with an intern who attempted to take his microphone away. As we reported previously, CNN responded to the move with a suit filed today.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded to the lawsuit with a statement saying: “This is just more grandstanding from CNN, and we will vigorously defend against this lawsuit.”

“Ms. Sanders made no mention of her original claim that Mr. Acosta had reacted inappropriately with the intern,” The New York Times reports. “Instead, she wrote that ‘he physically refused to surrender a White House microphone to an intern, so that other reporters might ask their questions.’

The Times also quotes Sanders writing: “The White House cannot run an orderly and fair press conference when a reporter acts this way, which is neither appropriate nor professional.”

The Times adds: “In turning to the courts, CNN has taken perhaps the most aggressive action yet by a news organization against a president who has systematically vilified journalists and media outlets since starting his campaign in 2015. Mr. Trump’s denigration of the news media as ‘the enemy of the American people’ — and his popularization of ‘fake news’ as a way to dismiss critical coverage — has alarmed press freedom groups around the world.”

The report notes that Sanders is named as a defendant in the suit, along with Trump; his chief of staff, John Kelly; the head of White House communications strategy, Bill Shine; and the Secret Service.

4 Comments

  1. CNN will lose…BIGLY. As to the New York Times: How many times have you been forced to retract stories on page A77? How many times has your accuracy not only been called into question but indeed proven to be wrong? The answer: A LOT. Acosta did indeed act inappropriately with the intern. He did in fact physically refuse to surrender the mic to the White House intern, and he did in fact “disrupt” the press conference. (as he always does). Trump meets with the press FAR more regularly than Obama did. I would also add that he takes far tougher questions (it’s hard to be tough on a President when your busy licking his boots like they did for Obama). I hope they televise this trial.

  2. Bullshit.

  3. Oy. Meanwhile, back on Earth…

  4. Trump is not required to call on any reporter. He calls on Acosta because he knows Acosta will create a scene.

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