CNN’s lawsuit is perhaps the most aggressive action yet by a news organization against Mr. Trump — who has popularized terms like “fake news” and “enemy of the people” to denigrate journalists and dismiss critical coverage — since he took office.
Although the suit is narrowly concerned with Mr. Acosta’s credentials, press advocates say the outcome could set a precedent for a president’s broader ability to select which journalists are granted access to the White House.
CNN’s lead lawyer, Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., zeroed in on that point at Wednesday’s hearing. “‘Rudeness’ is a code word for ‘I don’t like you being an aggressive reporter,’” he said. “The president doesn’t have the right to choose who CNN sends to the White House.”
In taking away Mr. Acosta’s press pass, the president’s press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, initially cited a false claim that he had placed his hands on a White House intern who tried to take away his microphone at the news conference. Ms. Sanders later revised the rationale to cite Mr. Acosta’s behavior, which she deemed disrespectful.
Judge Kelly pressed James Burnham, the Justice Department lawyer representing the administration, about the shifting rationale, asking, “You have no position on the accuracy of that statement?” Mr. Burnham replied that he did not, calling Ms. Sanders’s claim legally irrelevant and no longer the “operating rationale” in the case.
Instead, Mr. Burnham contended that Mr. Acosta had lost his press pass because of his behavior at last week’s news conference, not because of the nature of his reporting. The lawyer noted that dozens of other CNN journalists still had their credentials.
Mr. Boutrous said Mr. Trump “is the most aggressive, dare I say rudest, person in the room,” adding, “He encourages that kind of rough-and-tumble discussion.”
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/business/media/jim-acosta-lawsuit-cnn.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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