Patterico's Pontifications

11/14/2018

FOX News Supports CNN In Lawsuit Against President Trump

Filed under: General — Dana @ 1:08 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Just days after CNN filed a lawsuit against President Trump and five aides, Fox News announced that it is backing CNN in the lawsuit. Reports say the organization filed an amicus brief, and will be joined by 12 other major media organizations, including the Washington Post and the New York Times.

From Fox News president, Jay Wallace:

“FOX News supports CNN in its legal effort to regain its White House reporter’s press credential. We intend to file an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court. Secret Service passes for working White House journalists should never be weaponized. While we don’t condone the growing antagonistic tone by both the President and the press at recent media avails, we do support a free press, access and open exchanges for the American people.”

The statement is similar to a statement issued by CNN, which made clear that the suit is intended to provide protection for other journalists and reporters, many of whom President Trump considers enemies of the people:

“While the suit is specific to CNN and Acosta, this could have happened to anyone,” the [CNN] network said. “If left unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials.”

As a reminder, during his campaign days, CNN gleefully gave then-candidate Trump oodles and oodles of free airtime to campaign. Theirs was a symbiotic relationship from which both entities richly benefited. The love-fest helped propel Trump to the White House. With that, we all know that Fox News has also had their own unique “special relationship” with both candidate-Trump and President Trump. At the end of the day, however, it appears that the the network has opted to play the long game here. Not surprising. After all, if Trump and the Republicans lose the White House in 2020, there is no guarantee that a President Harris or President Booker wouldn’t also start revoking the press pass of anyone daring to grandstand and advocate while while masquerading as a reporter.

Interesting to note that Fox News has recently made efforts to distance itself from any “closeness” to Trump:

The president has called into “Fox and Friends” several times, granting them at times nearly 40-minute interviews. The coziness between the president and the network was also underscored this summer when Trump hired former Fox News executive Bill Shine to lead his communications team. And Trump has given exclusive interviews to Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro, who joined him on stage at a rally leading up to the midterm elections.

But the network has made several moves in recent weeks to distance itself. Fox News was quick to condemn the two hosts for appearing to campaign with Trump, especially after Hannity had pledged to not take the stage with the president.

“FOX News does not condone any talent participating in campaign events,” a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement at the time. “This was an unfortunate distraction and has been addressed.”

And earlier this month, Fox News pulled an immigration ad put out by the White House, which other networks had labeled as racist.

In spite of all of this, one wonders whether the organization will find itself in the same fix as CNN and not be able to quit Trump:

“We’ve seen that anytime you break away from the Trump story and cover other events in this era, the audience goes away,” [CNN president Jeff Zucker] added. “So we know that, right now, Donald Trump dominates.”

I just checked President Trump’s Twitter feed, and so far he has not tweeted about the decision made by Fox News.

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

77 Responses to “FOX News Supports CNN In Lawsuit Against President Trump”

  1. Hello.

    Dana (023079)

  2. OANN this is your time!

    urbanleftbehind (262e13)

  3. Big change in who’s running it now.

    Colonel Haiku (97712e)

  4. And may not be a smart move backing a “deeply flawed” lawsuit…

    https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/312977/

    Colonel Haiku (97712e)

  5. What could go wrong, well green lantern.

    Narciso (f55881)

  6. i’m enjoying this so far Mr. narciso i think the whole series is free for whatever reason

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  7. Haiku:

    From Insty to Twitchy to the clickbait infested waters of the Daily Caller. That’s quite the click journey you are taking us on, there. Captain.

    Appalled (d07ae6)

  8. Yes facts are stubborn things,

    Narciso (f55881)

  9. In all honesty does anyone tune into Fox News? I gave up on it when they still had the blonde lady in short skirts.

    mg (9e54f8)

  10. Victim of my cord cutting, plus have pet peeve of them not placing full text narratives under videos so I may indulge at the workplace. but they are still strong in those demos that insist on cable and satellite.

    urbanleftbehind (262e13)

  11. It seems to me that all those media outlets that don’t have employees with a press pass should then sue. They probably have a better case since. Journalists from CNN, NBC, and the rest of the alphabet networks should be replaced entirely.

    DarrenM (a4eb00)

  12. But Daily Baller has the good kind of clickbaiy…and text under their vids.

    urbanleftbehind (262e13)

  13. I can see why the news division of Fox is doing this. I’m sure they remember that, in a previous administration, they were where Acosta is now (link).

    Paul Montagu (e7d63b)

  14. Journalists are so much like the prostitute who wonders how she ever got a reputation for having loose morals.

    JVW (773988)

  15. well there are still sky news rights in Iceland to deal out,

    narciso (d1f714)

  16. it’s not anywhere near equivalent, was there anyone at the nets who was critical of their support for Obama administration, abc, nbc, cbs was a little different because of Atkinson and logan, but they fixed their wagons,)

    narciso (d1f714)

  17. ‘Hey rube!’ No surprise at all.

    Never go to war with folks who buy ink by the barrel and can get the word out to folks around the planet- and to those circling above it- on every conceivable communication gadget known to man.

    Have John Barron and John Miller signed on, too?!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  18. so there isn’t an equivalence at all, the press at fox typified by shep smith, reads the ap line, which is orange man bad,

    narciso (d1f714)

  19. 8… Arrrrr… did yer timbers get shivered, matey?

    Colonel Haiku (97712e)

  20. @15. Pffft. Yeah, that Ernie Pyle was always hooking up w/anybody who’d give him a ride. And oh, that Walter Cronkite, could he do a mean strip-‘tease’ at parties.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  21. teh horror, teh horror,

    narciso (d1f714)

  22. Creepy Wife-beating lawyer arrested! “Avenatti is currently in custody.”

    Colonel Haiku (97712e)

  23. @24. Oooooo! Yummy! Bad boys make for great presidential timber these days!!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  24. much like Gloria alred, no matter what he does he can’t get disbarred,

    narciso (d1f714)

  25. Felony wife-beating!!!

    Colonel Haiku (97712e)

  26. ot, they found a planet around barnards star

    narciso (d1f714)

  27. The leftwing ratfvck!

    Colonel Haiku (97712e)

  28. Yeah, that Ernie Pyle was always hooking up w/anybody who’d give him a ride.

    Uh-huh. So in your weird world the battlefields of Europe are the same as bar at the Hay-Adams Hotel?

    JVW (773988)

  29. And of course all this “Distancing from Trump” will earn Fox instead credibility from the other Liberal MSM journalists and they will instantly stop their attacks of FOX and its journalists as “Right wing”.

    LOL. What goofs.

    BTW, I see the phrase “chilling effect”. Could someone explain in clear language with SPECIFIC EXAMPLES, what will happen if our White House correspondents are “Chilled”?

    rcocean (1a839e)

  30. I would love it if Trump – at the end of this – he simply tells the Judges to go stuff themselves. And that they have NO RIGHT under the constitution to tell the Executive Branch how to run its Press Facility, and that as Andy Jackson supposedly said:

    “Mr. Chief Justice has made his ruling – now let him enforce it”

    This judicial overeach has to be stopped or we might as will turn the Presidency over to John Roberts and his merry band.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  31. Acosta had his credentials pulled for cause. It’s not something “that could happen to anyone” — that’s the drunk driver’s defense. And just about as convincing here.

    Kevin M (a57144)

  32. Sadly, I think CNN will win, as there are established regulations and precedent. Unless the Secret Service asserts that Acosta presents a danger to the President, they have to issue him a security clearance. Simply being an arrogant assh0le and manhandling staff isn’t enough.

    Just the same, once CNN wins, they need to reassign Acosta as he will never ever be called upon again.

    Kevin M (a57144)

  33. If they have a real judge, who looks at the facts of the case before him, instead of a partisan blue-slip special who just wants to stick it to Trump, Acosta will lose. One-sentence legal analysis: “It should not have been necessary to wrestle the microphone away from him.”

    nk (dbc370)

  34. It’s an absurd lawsuit. Accosta’s access has not been infringed.

    Fox’s move is savvy. It won’t stop the next Obama tyranny, though. Of course, this is not CNN’s objective anyway.

    Ed from SFV (6d42fa)

  35. Heh! The judge is a Trump appointee. Now we’ll find out if he’s happy in his job. 😉

    nk (dbc370)

  36. “Don’t tell me what cases you’ve won, tell me who you’ve beaten.”

    — Michael Avenatti

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  37. Avenatti is not currently married and his one ex-wife says it was not her. I wonder if it’s a case of a stormy relationship.

    nk (dbc370)

  38. “If you can’t take a punch, you don’t belong in the ring.”

    — Michael Avenatti

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  39. @15. Pfft. In my world, Walter and Ernie were journalists… welcome to it.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  40. ^30.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  41. Yep, nk… updates from TMZ…

    4:50 PM PT — Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, the LAPD has already obtained an emergency protective order, prohibiting Avenatti from going near the alleged victim. We’re told they will serve him with the legal docs before he’s released from custody. We’re told he will be released on $50,000 bail.
    4:10 PM PT — We were initially told by our sources the alleged victim was Avenatti’s estranged wife. We now know it was not. The incident involved a different woman.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  42. And if Walter Cronkite and Ernie Pyle were to apply for White House press credentials, I would certainly hope that they would get them.

    nk (dbc370)

  43. @44. Is there an ‘Access Hollywood’ tape?!?! Campaign Gold! CA lawyers can probably clarify but if there’s a domestic altercation of this type and the cops are called to the scene, one of the parties has to go to the pokie, right? At least that’s the experience my family-law-lawyer-brother related to us a while back. Maybe it’s different now.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  44. In other news mia love is likely to prevail on the
    count, other reps have slighly larger margins, tony thurmind is only ahead by one point.

    narciso (d1f714)

  45. @45. John Miller and John Barron, too! But then, the credentials requires a photo.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  46. Such a policy would be unconstitutional. There has to be probable cause for the arrest, and if the police did not witness the domestic violence, there has to be a sworn complaint by the complaining witness. Which there almost certainly was here, for a judge to issue a temporary restraining order.

    nk (dbc370)

  47. @49. That’s probably it then. Just recall my brother saying once the cops are called on the scene of a squabble one of the parties has to go in for an overnight stay to chill.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  48. How did that happen? Some census workers I knew had their checks cut by the USDA, but carry permits? Sheesh, the fat guy should be the default in any state’s Ag commissioner race.

    urbanleftbehind (262e13)

  49. Accosta is accredited. That has not changed.

    Ed from SFV (6d42fa)

  50. I didn’t know it either till the Florida primary.

    Narciso (55d889)

  51. But I thought California had abolished bail.

    nk (dbc370)

  52. I didn’t know it either till the Florida primary.
    IIRC it came out in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting that the AgComm’s office had not been bothering to do background checks before issuing CCW permits. Clerical screwup being the official excuse.
    A second IIRC: The AgComm in question was the establishment favorite whom DeSantis defeated in the GOP gubernatorial primary

    kishnevi (d8763f)

  53. Yes, and the malfunction had been going on for a year, going back to pulse nightclub.

    Narciso (55d889)

  54. Where’s Tillman?!?!

    Looks like they need to thin teh Nazis out of the WH reporter herd…

    https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LUTLyUHZa1g/W-w3PGZgV0I/AAAAAAAAJVs/cmpcircMl1gFZb_sVtiJWEBvy8GQdjSCQCLcBGAs/s1600/fullsizeoutput_2d86.jpeg

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  55. Looks to me more like a group of first graders competing to be the one who gets to tell Teacher that 2 plus 2 is 4.

    kishnevi (d8763f)

  56. The ex wanted 215 k a month, I’m dying here,

    Narciso (55d889)

  57. My sense of justice is fighting with my schadenfreude, and the schadenfreude is winning because it would be righteous karma for the purveyor of trollops’ slanders to be the victim of one himself.

    By the way, you think that’s what “throwing shade”, meaning shaming someone, was coined from?

    nk (dbc370)

  58. Forged in fire is worth watching.

    mg (9e54f8)

  59. Heh! The judge is a Trump appointee. Now we’ll find out if he’s happy in his job

    There’s “law” and there’s “justice.” This looks like one of those times that “law” will prevail. Or regulations, anyway.

    Maybe a battery charge would stick.

    Kevin M (a57144)

  60. OT, but lawyers who still remember first year torts will appreciate this story. The case that’s become the precedent for no contribution among joint tortfeasors, where a highwayman sued his partner over the division of the loot and both were hanged? This is a lot like it, translated to 2018 America: https://www.foxnews.com/us/homeless-man-couple-allegedly-conspired-to-deceive-donors-of-400g-gofundme-campaign-funds-report

    nk (dbc370)

  61. Unsurprisingly, the judge ordered the press pass restored, at least for now.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/16/judge-orders-trump-administration-to-restore-cnn-reporter-jim-acostas-white-house-press-pass.html

    Kevin M (a57144)

  62. Based on what law, btw they stole the seat from Elizabeth Kim, only stupid millenials need apply.

    Narciso (6a6352)

  63. CNN wins.

    Never go to war w/folks who buy ink by the barrel and can get the word out on every conceivable communication gadget known to man.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  64. Acosta’s martyrdom denied. He can return to being the face of a free, unbiased, objective, fact-based press.

    Munroe (6caee9)

  65. Well they can ignore the actual relevant law, that’s why there’s one America news,

    Narciso (6a6352)

  66. Meh! This was a TRO to maintain the status quo until a hearing on the merits.

    Not even a preliminary injunction in which the judge guesses at the probability of the parties prevailing at trial. Only a weighing of the respective harms if the status quo is not maintained. Obviously, Acosta would be hurt a lot if he were not temporarily reinstated, whereas the White House will not be hurt at all if he is reinstated until trial is held.

    nk (dbc370)

  67. And I’ll tell you something else, too, having done TROs. First Amendment cases are special — from the notice requirements to appeal bonds, and everything in-between. Basically, the courts bend over backwards not to infringe on First Amendment rights.

    nk (dbc370)

  68. I was wondering about that.

    Narciso (6a6352)

  69. Make that “not to summarily infringe on First Amendment rights”, TROs being summary proceedings.

    nk (dbc370)

  70. RIP William goldman.

    Narciso (6a6352)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.1090 secs.