The Trump administration is firing back at CNN and its chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta for the First Amendment and Fifth Amendment lawsuit they’re now having to defend against, calling CNN’s move: “Grandstanding.”
“We have been advised that CNN has filed a complaint challenging the suspension of Jim Acosta’s hard pass,” Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. “This is just more grandstanding from CNN, and we will vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
In the lawsuit, CNN and Acosta have named President Trump, Chief of Staff John Kelly, White House comms chief/former Fox News co-president Bill Shine and Sanders among the defendants who they say “have violated CNN and Jim Acosta‘s First Amendment rights of freedom of the press and Fifth Amendment rights to due process.”
In response to CNN, the administration argues that Acosta is basically a standalone case, as CNN “has nearly 50 additional hard pass holders, and Mr. Acosta is no more or less special than any other media outlet or reporter with respect to the First Amendment.”
The administration is also saying Acosta has refused to yield to other reporters on multiple occasions, and that he “physically refused to surrender a White House microphone to an intern,” (which doesn’t seem to be the case, based on prior footage).
“If there is no check on this type of behavior, it impedes the ability of the President, the White House Staff, and members of the media to conduct business,” said Sanders.
The CNN lawsuit was filed days after chief White House correspondent had his press credential revoked last Wednesday, and was denied entrance to the White House grounds by the Secret Service when he arrived for a scheduled live shot.
Here’s the full statement, via BuzzFeed:
It remains to be seen if this case will actually be tried in court.