CNN is threatening to file another lawsuit against the Trump administration for continuing to deny them access to the Air Force One press pool.
“These efforts to retaliate and discriminate against CNN based on the content of its news coverage are mistaken, counterproductive, and unlawful,” Ted Boutrous, the network’s outside counsel, wrote in a letter to the Justice Department on Tuesday. He added that CNN “will be forced to pursue additional judicial relief” if Trump does not stop.
CNN, MS NOW, and Politico all moved to sue Trump last month when he dramatically banned the trio of networks from the White House because he didn’t like the way they were covering him. While most access has been temporarily returned as the lawsuits continue on in court, the administration has still decided to keep CNN off the presidential jet.
“Those spaces belong not to any particular president or administration but to all Americans, and CNN and other members of the press serve as surrogates for the public when covering the White House,” Boutrous continued. “If these actions persist … CNN will have no choice but to return to the court to defend its rights, and it is prepared to fight as long as is necessary to secure them.”
The White House maintains that their decision to shut out CNN is justified.
“No person and no journalist have a constitutional right to access to the President’s Oval Office, Air Force One, or other sensitive and private facilities,” they wrote in a statement. “When publications lie, fabricate, and ignore the truth, proximity matters less and they can write their fiction from outside of these secure facilities.”