Citizens sue Trump administration over White House press curbs
For the first time, news consumers rather than banned outlets are suing, among them a teacher, a professor and a student journalist. The White House has not commented.
Archive image · Photo: Kellerbn at English Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5 (cropped and resized)
A group of private citizens sued the Trump administration in federal court in New York on Monday over restrictions on news outlets covering the White House. It is the first such suit brought by news consumers rather than the affected outlets. The six plaintiffs, including a human rights advocate, a history professor, a teacher, a legal journalist and a student journalist, say they depend on independent White House coverage for their work.
New York City social studies teacher Peter Schmidt-Nowara said his students should hear from a free and independent press. The White House has not responded to the lawsuit.
Last month the administration barred journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House news conferences. A federal judge ruled the order unconstitutional, and the administration is contesting that ruling. Trump wrote that he was "thinking about moving the Press, and putting them in a different location." Former Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth warned that penalising independent journalists often precedes the rise of autocracy.