I'm writing to urge you to speak out against the White House's decision to bar CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from White House grounds over their coverage. On September 19, Secret Service denied journalists from these outlets access and confiscated their press credentials at a West Wing security gate.
This isn't a security or capacity decision — it's viewpoint discrimination. The White House has opened its grounds and press facilities to journalists generally; once it does that, it can't then pick and choose who covers it based on whether it likes what they've written. That's not opinion — it's settled law. In Sherrill v. Knight (1977), the D.C. Circuit held the White House cannot arbitrarily deny a press pass to a bona fide journalist, and must provide notice, a chance to respond, and a written explanation before doing so. Content-based standards for press access are prohibited.
A free press only functions if the public gets reporting from a range of outlets, not just the ones currently in an administration's good graces. Excluding outlets over their coverage narrows who's in the room, skews what the public hears, and sets a precedent any future administration — of either party — could use against outlets it doesn't like.
I'm asking you to:
1) Publicly condemn this exclusion as a First Amendment violation, regardless of your views on these outlets' coverage.
2) Support any oversight or legislative action to require neutral, non-content-based criteria for White House press access.
3) Make clear that this kind of retaliation against the press is unacceptable no matter who occupies the office.
Thank you for representing your constituents on this.
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