Trump Banned Three News Outlets And Handed Gibson Dunn A Sequel It Already Knows How To Win

CNN, MS NOW, and Politico sued the President on Monday over the revocation of their White House credentials. Ted Boutrous, Katie Townsend, and Connor Sullivan of Gibson Dunn are leading the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Donald Trump, chief of staff Susie Wiles, communications director Steven Cheung, and Secret Service Director Sean Curran. Those three lawyers are also, as of January, the three co-chairs of Gibson Dunn’s First Amendment and Free Expression practice, a group the firm launched on January 21, eight months before a president decided that press credentials were his to hand out based on coverage he liked.

Trump warned Friday that “Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America,” and promised more bans were coming. Asked about the First Amendment in the Oval Office, he said there’s “something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories,” before adding, “Now, if they want to write them, that’s fine, but I don’t have to let them into my, into the people’s house.”

And, after being informed of the plan to sue the administration, Trump again ranted on Truth Social, writing:

The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America. It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP

How convenient, the defendant publicly establishing motive like that.

“This ban on the free press harms the American people, who are entitled to rigorous, fact-based coverage of the President of the United States,” Boutrous said in a statement. “The law is on our side across the board, and we look forward to presenting our arguments to the court as soon as possible.”

He has reason to be confident, seeing as he built some of that law himself. The Secret Service confiscated Jim Acosta’s hard pass on November 7, 2018, after a combative exchange at a press conference, and Boutrous took the case for CNN and Acosta, pleading the First Amendment and due process. The complaint and the TRO motion went in on November 13, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly granted the TRO from the bench on November 16, and by November 19 the pass was permanently restored and CNN had voluntarily dismissed the case.

The press corps also declined to make the ban painless. ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, and Fox News all refused to supply a replacement camera crew for CNN’s pool duty, saying in a joint statement that “no administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.” Fox backed CNN in 2018 too, which should tell the White House something about how narrow its constituency is here.

This is the latest fight this administration has picked with the First Amendment, not the last one, and taking up the mantle are three of the lawyers in the country who are most prepared to fight this battle.

Earlier: The DOJ Is Coming For Reporters. Todd Blanche Just Said So Out Loud.
DOJ To Judge: ‘No One Was Trying To Pull A Fast One.’ Judge: ‘These Things Are Starting To Pile Up.’
DHS Is Hunting Down Trump Critics. The ‘Free Speech’ Warriors Are Mighty Quiet.
Trump Admits: ‘We Took The Freedom Of Speech Away’