CNN threatens lawsuit against Trump administration as Air Force One ban continues

Already embroiled in a tense legal standoff with the White House, CNN is threatening further action in the courts if its journalists continue to be denied access to Air Force One and the “pool” of journalists who accompany President Donald Trump when he travels.The network has been entangled in legal action with Trump’s administration ever since the president issued its reporters a sudden ban from White House grounds a month ago, along with those from MS NOW and Politico, calling their content “fake news.” Last week, a federal judge granted the news outlets their request for a preliminary injunction against the government ban as the case moves through the legal system.But that only addresses part of the problem.The White House has continued to bar CNN from taking its place in TV pool coverage of Trump’s travel on Air Force One.And so the network may need to take additional action, said Theodore J.

Boutrous Jr., an attorney for CNN, in a letter to Justice Department attorney Michael K.Velchik.Boutrous noted in the letter late Monday that CNN has traditionally had “uninterrupted access to the Oval Office and Air Force One for 45 years.

That is because those spaces belong not to any particular president or administration but to all Americans, and CNN and other members of the press serve as surrogates for the public when covering the White House.”Now, though, the White House is engaging in “what appears to be a new unstated policy to interfere with CNN’s ability to fulfill its duties” as part ot the video pool.The pool consists of the five major U.S.

networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox, who alternate assignments and share video.Boutrous noted that in his most recent ruling, U.S.District Judge Timothy Kelly had found the three media outlets were likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the White House violated the First Amendment and due process with Trump’s ban, and thus were entitled to the relief they requested.Still, though...