Associated Press Sues Trump Administration Officials For Banning Outlet Over Refusal To Make 'Gulf Of Mexico' Name Change
The Associated Press filed suit today against members of the Trump administration after it prohibited the news service from access to White House events because it refused to change references of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
'The White House has ordered The Associated Press to use certain words in its coverage or else face an indefinite denial of access,' the lawsuit states. '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 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.'
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The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., and seeks an emergency hearing to restore access.
Read the Associated Press Trump lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed against White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
'The AP therefore brings this action to vindicate its rights to the editorial independence guaranteed by the United States Constitution and to prevent the Executive Branch from coercing journalists to report the news using only government-approved language,' the lawsuit stated.
A White House spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
The Associated Press continues to have press passes to the White House grounds, but since last week, it has been restricted from attending pools in the Oval Office, presidential press conferences and travel aboard Air Force One. The Trump administration has made clear that the reason for the ban is that the news service has continued to refer to the Gulf of Mexico, rather than the Gulf of America.
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order changing the name, but the AP later issued an advisory, noting that it would retain the name Gulf of Mexico as it is an international body of water, and other countries have yet to change their reference to it. The AP said that it would still acknowledge Trump's new name.
'To date, the AP's reporters and photographers remain banned from the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other locations open not only to pool members, but also to a larger group of journalists with White House press credentials,' the AP said in the lawsuit.
The Associated Press is one of the oldest news organizations in the world, having been founded in 1846, and has been a part of the press pool since it was created early in the 20th Century.
Trump has made clear that they would continue to restrict the AP until they changed the name. The lawsuit claims violations of the First Amendment, citing previous case law over White House attempts to restrict access 'based on the content of the journalists' speech,' as well as the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.
'Defendants gave the AP no prior or written notice of, and no formal opportunity to challenge, their arbitrary determination that the AP would indefinitely lose access to the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other limited areas as a member of the press pool – as well as access to larger locations open to a wider group of journalists and reporters with White House press credentials – unless the AP adopted the Administration's preferred language in its reporting,' the lawsuit stated.
The news service also claimed that the ban was 'impermissible retaliation,' as 'it was instituted to punish the AP for its constitutionally protected speech in ways that would chill the speech of a reasonable person of ordinary firmness.'
More to come.
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