Jim Acosta's press pass reinstated after White House backs down from CNN court battle

Harriet Alexander
Updated
Jim Acosta, CNN's White House correspondent, during an argument with the president which resulted in him having his press pass revoked - AFP
Jim Acosta, CNN's White House correspondent, during an argument with the president which resulted in him having his press pass revoked - AFP

The White House has abandoned its attempt to bar CNN's White House correspondent from the premises, following a high-profile battle which outraged members of the US media.

Jim Acosta, the channel's reporter, jousted verbally with Donald Trump, the US president, at a heated press conference on November 7 - the day after the midterm elections.

Hours after the press conference the White House revoked Acosta's credentials, claiming the journalist had manhandled a White House intern seeking to take his microphone.

Their claim was proven to be false after it emerged that Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, distributed a doctored video sped up to make Acosta look more aggressive than he actually was.

CNN filed a law suit to get Acosta's credentials restored, arguing that the action violated the constitutional right to freedom of the press and that he had been denied due process.

Dozens of news organisations filed briefs supporting CNN in its case against the White House.

"We are not the enemy of the people," Acosta tweeted on Monday. "I am not your enemy. You are not my enemy. It is wrong to call your fellow Americans the enemy. We are all on the same team. We are all Americans."

Judge Timothy Kelly, presiding over a district court in Washington DC, cited the due process argument last Friday in granting Acosta a two-week injunction to get back to work.

The White House initially fought back, saying it had made a preliminary decision to keep Acosta out when the two weeks were up.

But on Monday, after CNN requested a hearing, press director Bill Shine and Ms Sanders changed course.

"The view from here is that White House interaction with the press is, and generally should be, subject to kind of a natural give and take," Shine and Sanders wrote in a statement - initially leaked to Fox News.

"President Trump believes strongly in the First Amendment and interacts with the press in just such a way.

"It would be a great loss for all if, instead of this give-and-take, and instead of relying on the professionalism of White House journalists, we were compelled to devise a lengthy and detailed code of conduct."

The White House said reporters would be permitted one question each, if called upon at news conferences, and allowed follow-ups only at the discretion of the president.

Acosta tweeted: "Thanks to everyone for their support. As I said last Friday ... let's get back to work."