Six Citizens Sue Trump, Aides Over White House Media Access
The lawsuit argues that banning critical reporters from the Oval Office violates the public's First Amendment right to independent government reporting.
By Jack Thompson ·
Six citizens filed a federal lawsuit in New York on Monday against President Donald Trump and three senior White House aides, arguing that recent media bans infringe on the public's right to receive independent news. The suit names White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Communications Director Steven Cheung, and Secret Service Director Sean M. Curran as defendants.
The plaintiffs include Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, and Beverly Gage, a Yale history professor. Also named are political journalist Daniel Froomkin, legal journalist Benjamin Wittes, and two student journalists, Ethan Young of the University of Pennsylvania and Peter Schmidt-Nowara, a high school civics teacher in New York City.
Katie Fallow, deputy litigation director at the Knight First Amendment Institute, said the case centers on the audience rather than the press. The institute filed the suit alongside the Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School. Fallow stated that the White House cannot punish critical reporting to control what information Americans receive.
"The First Amendment protects the public's right to know what its government is doing," Fallow said. She added that when the White House expels reporters based on their coverage, the public loses access to independent reporting and receives something closer to government propaganda.
The complaint seeks a broad injunction to stop the administration from retaliating against any news outlet covering the White House. It asks the court to declare the current policy unconstitutional because it imposes viewpoint-based restrictions on a public forum. The suit argues that the threat of expulsion forces all journalists to self-censor to preserve their access.
The Trump administration responded to the filing by quoting an unidentified White House official. The statement said no person may demand access to the Oval Office. It added that media outlets spreading misinformation are capable of reporting their stories from directly outside the building.
The new case joins existing litigation involving major media organizations. CNN, MS NOW, and Politico are currently in court after their journalists were banned in September. The Associated Press is fighting a ban that followed its refusal to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The New York Times and ABC are also in legal disputes over Pentagon escort policies and broadcast license renewals, respectively.
Source: ABC News
