White House blocks Politico from Air Force One amid press access lawsuit

By Brian Stelter, CNN

(CNN) — The White House is refusing to allow Politico on Air Force One on Monday, which means the news organization cannot fulfill its press corps pool responsibilities.

A Politico spokesperson confirmed that the publication was excluded from the out-of-town travel pool, a small group of reporters who travel with the president on trips.

The White House tried to enlist other news outlets to take Politico’s place on the trip, but “it was unable to find a replacement,” so “there is no primary print pooler on this trip,” Washington Post reporter Katherine Doyle said in an email to colleagues.

The Post is on the trip in the “secondary” print seat as part of the pool. The “secondary” reporter does not typically send out updates to the wider press corps. But with Trump traveling to Nebraska for a campaign stop on Monday afternoon, The Post is sending out updates while emphasizing that it is not taking Politico’s place.

The television press pool representative on Monday, CBS, is also sharing its pool notes with print publications during the trip, given the unusual circumstances.

“Neither news organization is replacing Politico,” Josh Gross of CBS News wrote in an internal email.

Monday’s moves amount to another show of solidarity by news outlets that usually compete fiercely on the White House beat.

The White House offered Politico’s seat to many other news organizations that routinely take turns in the oawut-of-town travel pool, and the publications uniformly declined, sources with knowledge of the matter told CNN.

President Donald Trump announced on September 18 that he was “banning” Politico, CNN and MS NOW from the White House, a move that legal experts called unconstitutional.

The news outlets filed a lawsuit on September 21 alleging the ban violates the First and Fifth Amendments. Judge Timothy J. Kelly sided with the plaintiffs and issued a temporary restraining order requiring the Trump administration to reinstate the journalists’ press badges.

Since then, however, the White House has repeatedly barred CNN from traveling on Air Force One on days when it has been CNN’s turn to be the TV pool representative. Now, on the day it was Politico’s turn to be the print pool representative, Politico has been barred as well.

The Trump administration appears to be justifying these new restrictions by saying that access to the White House complex is different than access to tight spaces like Air Force One. The Associated Press has an ongoing lawsuit over this distinction, since Trump tried to ban the wire service from certain spaces last year.

Monday’s action against Politico will likely be incorporated into the next legal filing by CNN, MS NOW and Politico.

“The law is absolutely clear. The harm to our clients, the First Amendment, and the public as a whole is profound,” the attorney for the three news outlets, Ted Boutrous, said in a statement. “It is critical that the White House is enjoined to keep this unconstitutional ban on the free press out of commission.”

Last week, when reporters from TIME asked if Trump was ignoring the court order, Trump said no, and then communications director Steven Cheung piped in: “The judge basically ordered them to renew their access back to the White House, but that’s different than allowing the pool into the events in the Oval Office or on Air Force One.”

When asked about the action against Politico on Monday, a White House spokesperson told CNN, “Many outlets including Politico are granted access to attend and cover presidential events unilaterally, but traveling with the President of the United States aboard Air Force One is a privilege not a right.”

That’s what Trump’s Justice Department is also arguing in court.

Judge Kelly is scheduled to hold a hearing on Thursday over the news outlets’ request for a preliminary injunction, which would protect press access to the White House for a longer period of time ahead of a potential trial.

The White House spokesperson asserted that Trump “will continue to grant an unprecedented level of access to the press.”

His recent actions, however, show a desire to pick and choose who asks questions and documents his presidency.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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