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© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.CNN sues Trump, demanding return of Acosta to White House
By DAVID BAUDER NEW YORK©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
61 Comments
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cla68
As a feminist, it’s distressing to me to see CNN excuse violence against women by one of its reporters.
Blacklabel
Oh, he was just “trying to keep the mic”......how? by making physical contact to keep it.....and after he was asked to give it to his colleague for their turn. Don’t others have a 1st amendment right to ask their questions?
They even sued the Secret Service guy who was told to take the pass away. Lame.
Toasted Heretic
It would be distressing but it didn't happen. Far more distressing and dangerous is the use and dissemination of doctored footage by the White House and subsequent false narrative repeated by Trumpists.
Acosta did not use violence against the intern. He briefly blocked her with his arm.
Fake news is dangerous - just look at what has happened in India, Nigeria, Mexico and other places.
Those are extremes, sure but the spread of false reporting and making untrue statements contribute to fear and hatred against journalists.
SuperLib
All of this would go away if Trump had thicker skin.
bass4funk
But Acosta is an idiot and most journalists know this, there is no love loss with him gone. CNN could send someone else less asinine, now as to who that would be.....is anyone’s guess.
And the intern was supposed retrieve them Mike and he blocked her from that, not to mention him constantly being approved overstepping his bounds in cutting off of the journalists in the president has every single right to give him a time out.
Doesn’t he journalists he’s the most accessible president ever, he’ll just sit there and give interviews four hours, but he doesn’t like the belligerent once and I totally understand that
Jimizo
I remember Obama being interviewed by Fox News puppet/sex-pest Bill O’Reilly. O’Reilly was doing the bidding of his biased fake news MSM bosses and wouldn’t allow Obama to finish a sentence. Obama’s coolness, intelligence and dignity was quite impressive. He was also just too sharp, too nimble and too clever for O’Reilly - he took him to the cleaners.
Trump doesn’t have enough intelligence to act like this.
A ban works best for this very limited man.
theFu
Preventing a long-time news organization is a bad idea for freedom of the press. But President Trump also has some power over who he calls on to ask questions.
They should let Acosta back, just never call on him, until CNN gets the hint and sends someone else.
bass4funk
Actually that’s not true, Bill O’Reilly has always been the kind a reporter that hates bloviating and if he allowed Obama to say a word he would override him and overtake the conversation and you can’t do that in journalism, that’s an absolute no-no. You should always be in control of the narrative not the person you’re interviewing, especially when you are on a limited timeframe. He was able to have 15 minutes with the President, it means you have to have all your questions prepped and you should be ready to go and you have to factor in the answers that you might get so you don’t have a lot of time so you need to keep it tight. Has nothing to do with sharpie not it has everything to do with doing your job is internal list or allowing the other person to control the narrative and Oreilly wasn’t going to do that, nor should he.
CrazyJoe
Well, Sarah, we all saw and heard what happened.
Life is so unfair to you and President Trump. I hope this nightmare ends very soon for you both. And please take Kellyanne with you.
This is how you fight back against a wannabe dictator like trump. Well done CNN
blue in green
Thicker skin?
The President and his office are of the highest rank in the land,
and visitors are held to a decorum of respect.
CNN's reporter was derailing the press conference,
and his lack of professional regard for the President, in the WH, was off-putting.
It's not about the president needing to adjust his behavior to accommodate.
Come to the event with respect for the office, the country and the president,
or stay home.
bass4funk
After 2024, I’m sure he will.
How? By the way, where is Acosta now??
Jimizo
@Bass
Nope, O’Reilly wouldn’t let him finish a sentence.
Your defence of the parts of the biased fake news MSM you like makes your defence of Fox a little questionable.
What did you think of Hannity appearing at a Trump rally?
Vernon Watts
I'm no fan of hers, but I would rather see Rachel Maddow replace Acosta...
Blacklabel
Jeff Flake will be there after January.
sir_bentley28
Wait, what? Where? When?
Thicker skin? Its not about "thicker skin"! Its about professionalism, charisma, intelligence and a cool, level headed mentality all of which should come with the title as POTUS, but this president doesn't or can't show any of these traits. Any other president prior (yes , even J "dubuyuh" Bush) had never blatantly slandered a person so brazenly like this orange muppet! He sees himself as the "boss" and everyone else are his employees to whom he can speak to as he likes, do as he likes to anyone (grab 'em by the ^$#@!*). The person is very unfit for the position.
bass4funk
Because Obama is known to take the reins of the conversation and he won’t stop and before you know it the 15 minutes are up and then he gets in trouble for not doing his job because he couldn’t get in the questions that he was supposed to ask, it doesn’t work like that, I interrupt people if this such a tight time schedule, there’s no way I’m going to let them overtake the conversation, it just won’t happen, nor should it happen.
No I just know how this business works.
Well, I will say this, it is Roger Ailes were still alive there is no way he would’ve allowed that and he probably would’ve suspended him at least for a week or so for that, the same thing happened with the late Tony Snow who got suspended for a week or two weeks because he donated money to Bush’s reelection campaign. I was on the fence about it. But Maddow and Shrapton especially where seen a lot going in and out of the White House, so it’s nothing new, should it be happening, again...I’m on the fence about that one.
Texas A&M Aggie
Currently, The White House has issued 60 hard passes to other CNN employees; all of whom still have them. Acosta abused his privilege to be in that room by 1.) assaulting the female intern and 2.) not surrendering the WH microphone after President Trump ordered him to do so.
Acosta can still report on future press briefings by watching the White House live feed broadcast on CSPAN. He does not have to be in attendance. The court action filed by CNN will go no where and they know it.
UlsterBoy
If you had some obnoxiously argumentative and disruptive reporter attending your own meetings, be them Political or Cooperate, don't you think you'd also wish to bar that Reporter from future meetings in order to allow others a chance to have chance to ask questions ?
I sort of feel sorry for the Intern. She tried her best, and even whilst blocked didn't continue to aggressively try and obtain the microphone - she, for one, showed restraint.
Serrano
"All of this would go away if Trump had thicker skin."
You gotta have some pretty thick skin to put up with CNN's and most of the media's nonsense. Sarah Sanders does an admirable job of dealing with these clowns at every press conference.
The Avenger
Imagine if Nixon had tried to ban Dan Rather for asking tough questions. Didn’t happen. And Rather was a hell of a lot more contentious than Acosta.
Serrano
If Acosta comes back they should make him wear a hat with a propeller on it.
Blacklabel
So any employed journalist has the right to be present at the White House briefing? Or only Acosta?
Serrano
Bye bye, Jim.
progressive
world's greatest democracy? laughable, at best.
8T
CNN will lose again!
TheRat
SerranoToday 12:07 pm JST
It is so funny watching these consevatives wet their pants as their dear leader had to answer a tough question! As if Ann Coulter and Hannity and Limbaugh are angels of coutesy and respect. As one poster noted, Bill O’reilly, aka, wife abuser (wives abuser) won’t let progessives finish a sentence. On a side note, why do you consercatives HATE progress so much, or ideas like headstart, free lunches for school chuldren, disability payments for the blind, weekends, holidays (all progressive ideas)?
ulysses
Only those if limited thinking ability believe that this is just about Acosta.
It's about our ruling despot limiting the freedom of press and their ability to ask hard questions.
No doubt if left to the WH, they would limit the conference to asking questions about the flavor of cereals that Barron ate in the morning.
I don't think this will go to trial, the WH has too much to lose.
It sure will be funny if the Judge asks Sarah the source of her edited video.
Lying to a judge is much different from lying to the intellectually challenged Trumpets.
Kaerimashita
US politics slowly becoming the media circus that huge swathes of its society long ago became.
Chop Chop
If he behave like Gentleman, then he got it. CNN has problem with spreading rumors and publishing false news worldwide.
TheRat
Yeah, right! Like Infowars and Breitbart are the last foundations of true reporting, or that joke outfit Fox. Stop carrying water for your oligarchs, chop chop, as they don’t care a flip about you!
bass4funk
So what do you recommend?
TheRat
BBC, Deutche Welle, even “Mother Jones” which despite its focus on the poor and the exploited (oh my!) was able to bring to our attention how Mitch Romy is only for the 1 percent. At least there is investigative journalism, like their piece on the hellholes of American prisons. Things you conservatives could give a mouse butt about.
Goodlucktoyou
If I was a lawyer, I would have an office in trump towers
Ah_so
If they are present, they have the right not to be manhandled by aggressive interns. Luckily he was very modest in exercising his right to self-defence.
bass4funk
Ok, so far, far progressive liberal sites, I see.
In that case, i should just stick to Breitbart and Infowars then.
Jimizo
The day a high profile BBC presenter goes on stage supporting a politician, left or right, and that staff member wasn’t immediately sacked, will be the day it jumps the shark and should be closed down.
It would have completely shattered any pretense of being a credible news outlet.
A non-partisan like yourself would surely agree.
bass4funk
Give me a break the BPC is a very well let’s just say it is not conservative network by any stretch of the meaning, not even close to being fair. But I do love their documentaries, great stuff., other than that....
Yes, I stopped watching their news broadcast back in 1992.
M3M3M3
But you have no right to 'defend' yourself against someone exercising self-help to get their property back. What Acosta did was a battery. The only test being whether he touched someone without their consent. It was mild, but it was a battery nonetheless.
This is not a political statement or opinion. It's a fact recognised by the reality based community.
M3M3M3
I'd be curious to know if the altercations in the Nixon case occurred at or during the press briefing and whether the briefing itself was disrupted, as was the case with Acosta. If it occured outside of the briefing and the reporter was otherwise reasonably well behaved during the briefing, it would obviously be inappropriate to ban him. Acosta is significantly different though. If Acosta had successfully held on to the microphone and kept talking for 10, 15 or 30 mins, would it still be unconstitutional to cancel his press pass? At some point there must be a line that even reporters cannot cross and expect to still be constitutionally protected. I think Acosta was well over that line.
Jimizo
No need to give you a break. Address the issue.
If a BBC presenter appeared on stage with a politician, ripping into other news organizations, he or she would be sacked, there would be uproar and rightly so. There is no way the public broadcaster in the UK could get away with partisan crap like that. Fox can do it. It’s not a public broadcaster and its viewers like partisan crap. I doubt even an employeee of CNN, a network with a clear anti-Trump bias, would try a stunt like that.
If you think the BBC would try that, you are living cloud ROFL land.
ulysses
Hilarious to see words like battery being used without an understanding of what it actually means.
The intern tried to grab the phone from Acosta resulting in the brief physical contact, even the doctored video shows that.
I would love for this to be taken to court. Acosta might be a showboat but thats not a crime. But lying to the court is a crime and we'll see if any of the Trumpets have the courage to repeat their lies in front of a judge.
SuperLib
Trump is rude all the time and you guys love it. I'm not sure how credible you can be complaining that someone else is being rude.
Luddite
How can anyone defend the lies the White House is spouting about this incident. No assault happened.
Serrano
Trump should be given a medal for tolerating Acosta for almost 2 years.
Jimizo
Hannity can be there to hold his hand.
No links to Hannity today?
Chip Star
So it's okay for a journalist to act like an arse towards a presidentvwhen the journalist is conservative and the president is liberal. Got it.
Sneezy
Funny, that’s the date you’ve told us you did your internship at Fox News. Seems like it’s a conflict of interest to attack points of view which don’t come directly from your boss, but hey, who am I to judge? I’m not a former journalist, after all.
Sneezy
Alas, one of this was cited as reason for withdrawing his press pass. It was a result of a non-existent assault cooked up entirely by the bird brain president and smokey-brain Sanders.
Sneezy
*none
kurisupisu
Acosta is now on the sidelines looking in,with himself to blame........
TheRat
arrestpaul
Acosta hit a woman who was only trying to do her job. What you referred to as, "resulting in the brief physical contact, even the doctored video shows that".
Legally-speaking, in the U.S., battery is the actual, intentional and unlawful touching or striking of another person against the will of the other. Which describes Acosta's action against a woman.
Acosta hit a woman who was only trying to do her job. CNNSUX lawyers will have a difficult defending Acosta's physical battery of a woman who was only trying to do her job.
ulysses
Not true
So can we charge the intern, because it looks like she initiated it, trying to snatch the mike away from Acosta.
A lie if told twice doesn't become the truth.
There's a reason they have a bar exam, you need to understand the law before making arguments.
M3M3M3
Did he or did he not make physical contact with her? What, in your opinion, is the test for battery?
No, because someone excercising their right to self-help is allowed to use reasonable force to recover their property.
ulysses
Did she or did she not make a physical contact with him?
Seriously !!!!!!
I didn't realize she owned the mike, if she does and he refused to return it to her there is an argument.
I remember Acosta said 'Pardon me Ma'am when the contact happened. Did you see that on video or was that also edited out.
That you don't understand that word.
M3M3M3
She did. When he lowered his arm onto hers.
Yes, seriously. It's called recaption. Look it up. You have the right to use reasonable force to regain posession of your property. It's the proprietary version of self-defence.
The US government owns the mic. She is clearly an employee/servant acting on the owner's behalf.
You claim I don't understand the word battery. I've asked you for a definition. Please provide it for everyone's benefit. I need it to pass the bar exam.
ulysses
Case closed.
There is a fundamental lack of understanding of even the basic concepts of law here, so I will not bother to reply.
If you sue to get your tuition fee back, you might have a strong case.
M3M3M3
You did bother to reply, but you refuse to provide a definition because you can't rationally defend your position.
Unlike Ulysses, I will paste the Black's law dictionary definition of the self-help remedy of recaption for everyone's benefit:
https://thelawdictionary.org/recaption/
What the mic personal chattels? Yes. Was the intern's attempt to retake the mic riotous? No, it was a perfectly reasonable use of force. Did it result in a breach of the peace? No.
Acosta, on the otherhand, had no lawful excuse for holding onto the mic or touching the intern. Of course, you can argue that it was hard for him to avoid contact once she did what she did, but that is the risk you run when you decide to unlawfully deprive someone of their property after they've ask for it to be returned.
I'm no Trump supporter by the way. These are simply the facts.
Chip Star
Allow me to demonstrate what's learned at law school and necessary for passing a bar exam:
M3 has no idea what a breach of the peace is. The intern lunging at Acosta was an assault, which is a breach of the peace. We would need the specific D.C. statute defining a breach of the peace and caselaw thereunder to be completely certain, but since M3 wants to armchair this, I'd say we can call this good enough.
Additionally, M3 is presuming that Acosta's license to maintain possession of the mic was properly revoked before the intern aggressively lunged at him. Again, we'd need to know the specific statute from D.C. and caselaw thereunder, but I've sufficiently made my point.