Daniel Wolfram
Blocked from the presidential travel pool once again, CNN threatens to take the White House back to court.
A month ago, MS NOW, Politico, and CNN were allowed back into the White House to cover President Donald Trump after he had banned them, claiming the three news organizations were “fake news.”
However, a judge ruled that full access must be restored on September 24. Another judge then extended that access back on October 14, marking it as a huge victory for press freedom and the First Amendment in the American Constitution.
Now, the Trump administration is at it again. This time Trump and the White House banned Politico and CNN from travel pool duty on Air Force One.
Barred from flying with the president
Both CNN and Politico were blocked from boarding Air Force One with President Donald Trump as he departed for a midterm campaign rally in Mississippi yesterday.
Because Politico was barred, Axios reporter Hans Nichols stepped in as a backup to collect details and share them with the broader press corps.
“CNN was slated to be TV pool today, and Politico was slated to be print pool. Both outlets were blocked by the White House. In the absence of TV and print poolers, Axios will support coverage of the president,” wrote Nichols in a note to Axios subscribers.
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In presidential reporting, news outlets take turns covering the president on plane rides for TV and print. Those pool reporters gather notes and images. They then pass the material along to other news companies covering the beat.
This is not the first time the White House has done this. Politico was blocked from covering a flight on October 5, while CNN has now been cut from the travel pool five separate times since late September.
Heading back to court
The judge ruled back in September that the government likely violated the news outlets’ First Amendment and due process rights.
Even so, travel restrictions on the road have continued without pause. Last week, attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr. sent a warning letter on behalf of CNN to Justice Department lawyer Michael Velchik. Boutrous cautioned that the network would “return to court” unless access is restored.
In the letter, Boutrous took aim at the administration’s motives. “These efforts to retaliate and discriminate against CNN based on the content of its news coverage are mistaken, counterproductive and unlawful,” he wrote, according to Deadline.
A White House official replied to that statement with a falsehood: “No person may demand access to the Oval Office. Media that peddle misinformation and defamation are completely capable of reporting their manufactured stories from directly outside.”
That is untrue. Press freedom is protected by the First Amendment in the Constitution, meaning that news agencies have a right to cover the president within the confines of American law. Covering Donald Trump is both a right and a privilege.
