Three American news organizations whose journalists were barred from the White House last week have filed a lawsuit in federal court against U.S. President Donald Trump, infohub.kz reports.
According to NUR.KZ, citing Politico, the plaintiffs are CNN, Politico and MS NOW. Along with the president, three of his key administration advisers are named as defendants. The outlets are seeking to have their correspondents' credentials restored, calling the sudden ban a "direct assault on the First Amendment to the Constitution" and a violation of the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports on.
"Without prior notice or due process, the White House revoked our journalists' credentials because it objected to our reporting. If this (the Trump administration's ban — ed.) is left unanswered, it will threaten press freedom and the public's right to independent journalism free from government interference," the outlets said in a joint statement.
The organizations asked the U.S. District Court for Washington to urgently declare the administration's actions unconstitutional and bar their further enforcement.
Besides Trump, the defendants in the suit are White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Communications Director Steven Cheung and Secret Service Director Sean Curran.
Recall that on September 18 the U.S. president announced he was barring correspondents from CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, claiming these outlets spread fake news. The very next day, journalists from those outlets said they had been denied entry to the White House. Donald Trump subsequently posted an image of garbage bags bearing the CNN, MSNBC and Politico logos.