Former Trump lawyer, ex-GOP lawmakers urge judge to side with AP over White House press pool ban

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Law & Crime

Mar 17th, 2025, 1:34 pm


A coalition of former Republican government officials and legal experts urged a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to order the Trump administration to restore The Associated Press to the White House press pool after the wire service was barred from the select group of journalists over its refusal to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”

In a 17-page amicus brief, the group implored U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden to uphold the principles of the First Amendment and reverse the administration’s decision to exclude the AP from the press pool and restrict its access to presidential events.

“There is no more important directive in the Constitution than to preserve the freedom of speech and of the press. Our country was founded on the principles of free speech and a free press,” the filing states. “Retaliation against the AP, and the Administration’s efforts to intimidate the press generally, could not be more at odds with the principles animating our founders when they wrote the Constitution. Permitting this kind of government interference would inhibit robust critical reporting, and encourage the press to tailor its work to please the President and avoid sanctions of the sort experienced by the AP.”

Among the amici are former Republican governors Arne Carlson, William Weld, and Christine Todd Whitman, ex-Trump administration attorney Ty Cobb, 12 former GOP members of the House of Representatives, and a retired federal appellate judge.

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/violate-one-of-the-most-fundamental-principles-of-our-democracy-former-trump-lawyer-ex-gop-lawmakers-urge-judge-to-side-with-ap-over-white-house-press-pool-ban/

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Full headline: ‘Violate one of the most fundamental principles of our democracy’: Former Trump lawyer, ex-GOP lawmakers urge judge to side with AP over White House press pool ban

Link to AMICUS BRIEF (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.277682/gov.uscourts.dcd.277682.36.0.pdf

[NotHardly]

1. 'Violate one of the most fundamental principles of our democracy'

MMW, if this falls we are in our most dangerous moment in our history since the writing of the Declaration of Independence. I see dark clouds on the horizon whether this is decided as though we were still a 'free' America or we endure a Mad King Trump as our ruler.