President Donald Trump slams social media firms for ‘silencing millions’
CNN has filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump and several of his aides, over the ban of the station’s White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, seeking the immediate restoration to Acosta’s access to the White House.
The lawsuit is following the suspension of Acosta’s press pass, known as a Secret Service “hard pass”, last week.
According to the suit, CNN claims that Acosta’s and CNN’s First and Fifth Amendment rights are being violated by the ban.
CNN says, the suit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. It was docketed and assigned to Judge Timothy J. Kelly, a Trump appointee. The judge has given the defendants an 11 a.m. Wednesday deadline to file responses to the suit. He has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
While CNN and Acosta are plaintiffs, the suit also has Trump, Chief of Staff John Kelly, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Bill Shine, Director of the Secret Service, and the Secret Service director, Randolph Alles, and Secret Service Officer who took Acosta’s hard pass away last Wednesday as defendants.
The Secret Service Officer is identified as John Doe in the suit, pending his identification.
According to CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker in an internal memo to staff, “This is not a step we have taken lightly. But the White House action is unprecedented”.
A statement by CNN read, “CNN filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration this morning in DC District Court. It demands the return of the White House credentials of CNN’s Chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta.
“The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acosta’s First Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their Fifth Amendment rights to due process. We have asked this court for an immediate restraining order requiring the pass be returned to Jim, and will seek permanent relief as part of this process.”
The White House Correspondents’ Association said it “strongly supports CNN’s goal of seeing their correspondent regain a US Secret Service security credential that the White House should not have taken away in the first place.”
CNN also asserted that other news organizations could have been targeted by the Trump administration this way, and could be in the future.
“While the suit is specific to CNN and Acosta, this could have happened to anyone,” the network said. “If left unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials.”
