Posted on 04/07/2020 8:49:01 AM PDT by bitt
DOJ puts White House Correspondents' Association on notice that press room is government property and only tradition gives group power to determine access.
TThe Justice Department has rejected a CNN political analyst's legal claim he deserved access to President Trump's coronavirus briefings, warning the White House press room is ultimately federal property and not the legal domain of journalists.
The DOJ's letter rejecting CNN and Playboy journalist Brian Karem's demands to access the briefings appeared to serve notice to the journalist-run White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) that its power to regulate who attends White House press briefings was based only on years of "tradition" and not a legal right.
“The press Briefing Room is White House property," and Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham "merely acquiesced" to WHCA's seating arrangements for reporters during the pandemic, the department's letter stated.
The dispute arose after WHCA limited access to the Brady Press Briefing Room to a rotating group of reporters, in light of the coronavirus crisis and the need for social distancing to protect the health of journalists and government officials.
Karem, a frequent Trump critic, objected to being denied access to the briefings by WHCA while the White House allowed Chanel Rion, a reporter for conservative outlet One America News, into the briefing room independently of WHCA approval. The WHCA recently voted to ban Rion from the briefings, however Rion returned to the briefing room as Grisham's guest.
“We also understand, however, that even as you would prohibit Mr. Karem from attending press briefings, you have permitted a reporter from One America News (‘OAN’) — the President’s favorite network — to circumvent that agreed-upon system as your ‘guest’ to attend briefings, allowing that reporter access even though she was not part of the WHCA’s designated daily rotation,” Karem's lawyer Theodore J. Boutrous Jr.
(Excerpt) Read more at justthenews.com ...
p
Good! Now start pulling passes.
You. must. speak. very. slow. to. the. WHCA. for. they. are. imbeciles. Use. little. words.
All of these pompous Mainstream Media a-holes should have been kicked out of the White House after the first press briefing in 2017.
I’m waiting for the Task Force briefing where the President has one of them forcibly removed....
LOL!! PLAYBOY “journalist”!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
The press is not paid to disseminate information.
The press is paid to attack Republicans.
In other words, you get in if we want you...If not, tough sh!t....
Well, I guess the briefings could be closed to all journalists, health concerns you know, and limit questions to those sent by text from anyone in the world. We might get more informative questions that way. And make sure all the other journalists know who messed up their gigs.
Let’s see if Chanel shows up today and then we will know who is really in charge of the press room.
I guess this would fall into the category of TOUGH SH*T
How about at least replacing Jim Acosta with someone a bit more level-headed? Acosta makes Sam Donaldson look civilized in comparison.
This is certainly the right call.
Brian Karem is an absolute clown. He’s even worse than Dear Diary Jim Acosta.
They allowed a Chinese agent disguised as a Journalist.
He’s the guy that writes the articles everyone reads instead of looking at the pictures.
“ LOL!! PLAYBOY “journalist”!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA“
Well, they are famous for their “articles”.
At least that’s what I’ve heard.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.