On Friday, the Associated Press (AP) filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for clamping down on AP's White House press pool access.
The Associated Press sued White House officials Friday for restricting the wire service’s access to the Oval Office and Air Force One over its refusal to use “Gulf of America” in its AP Stylebook.
Claiming the restrictions violate the outlet’s First Amendment rights and due process protections under the Fifth Amendment, the lawsuit asks a federal judge to restore the AP’s access to spaces made available to other White House press pool members.
“The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government,” the lawsuit states. “The Constitution does not allow the government to control speech. Allowing such government control and retaliation to stand is a threat to every American’s freedom.”
RedState's own Brad Slager has provided excellent coverage of the incidents leading up to this lawsuit.
See Related: The Press Has Descended to a New Level in This AP vs. White House Battle and Claims of Censorship
To a layman, it's hard to see how this is a First Amendment issue. The White House has not attempted to restrict the Associated Press and its employees from writing, printing, or speaking as they please. They are free to criticize the president, his policies, as well as any member of the administration. But the First Amendment does not guarantee them a place in the White House press pool.
In fact, this issue arose over the AP's refusal to change its style guide to recognize the renamed Gulf of America. The executive branch, it is important to note, has authority over the names of geological places and features — such as the Gulf of America. But that in no way places a legal restriction on the AP, nor does it preclude them being barred from White House access for so doing.
At CPAC on Friday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who was named in the suit, declined to comment.
The case was randomly assigned to U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, an appointee of President Trump.
“I really would love to answer this question, but upon driving over here from the White House, I actually learned that I have been sued by the Associated Press,” Leavitt said while appearing at the Conservative Political Action Conference shortly after the lawsuit was filed. “We’ll see them in court.”
The AP's statement was a little baffling:
In a statement shortly after filing, AP said the lawsuit was filed in an effort to “defend our independence from government control in what we can say and report.”
“We are taking this action on behalf of all independent global media organizations and people who have the freedom of speech,” AP stated.
The administration has in no way impaired the free speech rights of the AP or any of its employees. The AP could refer to the Gulf of America as the Gulf of Brobdignag if they choose without legal consequences, but they are still not guaranteed a place in the White House press pool by the First Amendment.
We will watch developments in this case with great interest.