CNN sues Trump administration over barring of Jim Acosta from White House

I’m sure you will be shocked to learn that barring a journalist from the White House grounds for the reasons that Trump gave for revoking Acosta’s credentials — because he displayed insolence toward the Leader — is per se unconstitutional, given that this is classic viewpoint discrimination on the part of the government.

There’s actually a DC appellate court opinion on this precise question, involving the barring of  Robert Sherrill, a reporter for the Nation, from both the Johnson and Nixon White Houses, on what were obviously spurious security grounds (this explains the ludicrous ex post facto attempt by the White House to claim that Acosta “assaulted” a White House intern when he inadvertently brushed her arm as she tried to yank a microphone out of his hand).  The court held that, at a minimum, reporters have a procedural due process right to know why they are being denied access by the Secret Service, and a right to contest that denial, which must be based on viewpoint-neutral criteria.

Of course the Trump administration has ignored all these requirements, but it’s important not to become jaded to Trump’s rampant contempt for law and legal process.  And it’s good to see prominent lawyers like Ted Olson and Ted Boutrous, who refused to work for Trump when he tried to hire them to deal with his mounting legal problems, at the forefront of this litigation.