6 citizens sue Trump over White House media ban

NEW YORK - Six citizens filed a federal lawsuit Monday arguing that the Trump administration’s restrictions on White House press access violate the public’s First Amendment right to receive independent information about the government.

The lawsuit, filed by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and Yale Law School’s Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic, names Trump, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung and Secret Service Director Sean M. Curran as defendants. 

Meanwhile, the plaintiffs include a human rights advocate, a political journalist, a Yale history professor, a high school civics teacher, a legal journalist and a student journalist at the University of Pennsylvania.

Citizens sue Trump over White House media ban

Big picture view:

The lawsuit argues that Trump administration restrictions on news organizations violate the public’s First Amendment right to receive independent information about the government.

"The ultimate injury here … is to the democratic public," says the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

"The First Amendment protects the public’s right to know what its government is doing," said Katie Fallow, deputy litigation director at the Knight Institute.

Unlike the earlier lawsuits brought by news organizations, the new case was filed on behalf of citizens who say they rely on White House reporting for their work, education and advocacy.

"The White House cannot decide what information Americans receive by punishing critical reporting," Fallow said in a statement. "When the White House expels reporters because of their coverage and threatens others with expulsion, it isn’t just the press that suffers — the public loses access to independent reporting and gets something closer to government propaganda."

Trump administration argues no one is entitled access to Oval Office

The other side:

The Trump administration said no one is entitled to access to the Oval Office and argued that news organizations can report from outside.

The Trump administration, asked for comment on the lawsuit, responded in a statement that it attributed to an unidentified White House official: "No person may demand access to the Oval Office." It said media that peddle "misinformation and defamation are completely capable of reporting their manufactured stories from directly outside."

CNN, MS NOW, other outlets pursue separate legal challenges

The backstory:

The case comes as several media outlets, including CNN, MS NOW, Politico and The Associated Press, pursue separate legal challenges over restrictions on their White House access.

On Oct. 14, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction continuing to block the White House from banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico reporters from White House grounds while the case proceeds. Still, CNN has continued to challenge its exclusion from some presidential travel press-pool assignments, including access to Air Force One. 

EARLIER: Trump says he is banning CNN, MSNOW and Politico from White House

Also continuing is the legal case involving The Associated Press, whose reporters were barred last year from the Oval Office, Air Force One and some events in retaliation for the outlet’s decision not to follow Trump’s lead in changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico, a body of water that borders the United States, Mexico and Cuba.

In addition, The New York Times is also involved in litigation, over a Pentagon policy requiring escorts for journalists on its grounds. ABC is also suing the Federal Communications Commission over efforts that could threaten the licenses of its local broadcast stations.