The White House will reinstate CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials Friday in response to a court ruling but said they would make changes to the way they run press conferences, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.
CNN’s Jim Acosta and Sarah Sanders go back and forth at the White House press briefing Monday, June 4, 2018. (Photo: Screenshot/Fox News)
“Today, the court made clear that there is no absolute First Amendment right to access the White House. In response to the court, we will temporarily reinstate the reporter’s hard pass,” Sanders said. “We will also further develop rules and processes to ensure fair and orderly press conferences in the future. There must be decorum at the White House.”
Judge Timothy J. Kelly issued an injunction Friday morning ordering the White House to reinstate Acosta’s credentials, saying his Fifth Amendment right to due process was violated. The judge made clear, however, that he made no ruling on whether the First Amendment right applies for any reporter to be at the White House.
CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta is seen before a briefing by White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC on October 3, 2018. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Sanders statement is unclear on whether the White House will continue to contest the lawsuit to have a ruling made on First Amendment grounds. The White House revoked Acosta’s credentials last week claiming that he laid hands on an intern after refusing to surrender the microphone during a press conference. (RELATED: CNN Sues The White House Over Jim Acosta’s Revoked Press Credentials)
President Donald Trump told The Daily Caller in an exclusive interview Tuesday he was unsure his administration would prevail in the lawsuit, but noted “we’ll see how the court rules. Is it freedom of the press when somebody comes in and starts screaming questions and won’t sit down?”