New York: American broadcaster CNN on Tuesday filed a lawsuit suing United States President Donald Trump and his associates, seeking an immediate restoration of the press credentials of its chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta.
CNN reported that the lawsuit is a response to the White House’s suspension of Acosta’s press pass, known as a Secret Service “hard pass.”
The white house suspended Acosta’s press pass last week for an unspecified duration.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday morning, by the network alleges that the removal of Acosta’s White House press pass constituted a violation of his First Amendment rights to freely report on the government.
CNN also alleged that the administration had violated Acosta’s due process rights by revoking his credentials without warning.
Including President Donald Trump, chief of staff John Kelly, press secretary Sarah Sanders, deputy chief of staff for communications Bill Shine, the director of the Secret Service, and the Secret Service officer are among the six defendants accused of seizing Acosta’s press card.
Sanders had defended White Houses’ action by claiming that Acosta behaved inappropriately at a presidential news conference.
On November 9, CNN sent a letter to the White House formally requesting the immediate reinstatement of Acosta’s pass and warning of a possible lawsuit, the network confirmed.
In a statement on Tuesday morning, CNN said that it is going to seek a preliminary injunction as soon as possible so that Acosta can return to the White House right away. Also, a Court’s ruling would further help in preventing the White House from revoking Acosta’s pass in future.
In addition, the White House Correspondents’ Association also stated that it ‘strongly supports CNN’s goal of seeing their correspondent regain a US Secret Service security credential that the White House should not have taken away in the first place’.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]