Judge Sides with CNN in Dispute Over White House Access
*By Carlo Versano*
A federal judge made a limited ruling Friday that the White House must immediately restore press access to CNN correspondent Jim Acosta on Fifth Amendment grounds.
Federal Judge Timothy Kelly, who was appointed by President Trump, granted CNN's request for a temporary restraining order, which will allow Acosta to re-join the White House press corps, at least temporarily. Kelly did not issue a formal ruling on the case, which is expected to come after more hearings.
"This case is not over," Joe Concha, a media reporter for The Hill, told Cheddar Friday.
Judge Kelly did not make a decision one way or another on Acosta's First Amendment right to White House access. Rather, his ruling was based on the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
The White House responded to the ruling in a statement that interpreted Kelly's decision to bypass the First Amendment issue as a win.
“Today, the court made clear that there is no absolute First Amendment right to access the White House. In response to the court, we will temporarily reinstate the reporter’s hard pass. We will also further develop rules and processes to ensure fair and orderly press conferences in the future."
"There must be decorum at the White House," the statement added.
President Trump expanded in an impromptu Q&A with reporters:
"We want total freedom of the press. It's more important to me than anybody would believe. But you have to act with respect when you're at the White House, and when I see the way some of my people get treated at news conferences, it's terrible.
The White House yanked Acosta's press pass following a series of back-and-forths between President Trump and the reporter that culminated in an explosive exchange at a press conference the day after the midterm elections.
At first, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said they pulled Acosta's pass because he had placed his hands on a White House intern who had attempted to take the microphone out of his hands. After that argument was challenged by Acosta's defenders, the White House's position evolved into a broader complaint about the reporter's overall behavior at press briefings.
Concha told Cheddar that eliminating the live feed of the daily briefing (which has become more of a weekly or biweekly briefing, of late), might limit grandstanding from both reporters and Trump Administration officials at the podium and cut down on confrontations.
That type of broader reform, however, appears unlikely. And with Acosta allowed back into the White House, Concha said the press office is likely to simply "box him out" of asking questions.
"I don't think this is going to change anything," Concha said of the ruling.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/whats-next-in-the-cnn-trump-saga).
Inflation remains hot as the January PPI has increased by 1 percent, twice what analysts had been expecting with a jump of 9.7 over the year. Beth Ann Bovino, the U.S. chief economist, for S&P Global Ratings, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rapid pace of inflation alongside higher wages, predicting the Federal Reserve will act quickly and forcefully this year. "They haven't changed their forecast, yet, that's gonna come out soon. But we expect that a March rate hike is basically pretty much baked in the cake," she said. "We think six rate hikes in total for 2022."
For black history month, Cheddar is highlighting black business leaders who are driving the need for representation forward. On February 10, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted an event called 'Developing the Black-Owned Business Ecosystem.' The virtual event was organized under the lobbying group's two initiatives -- the Equality of Opportunity Initiative, and the Coalition to Back Black Businesses. The event highlighted the developments needed to develop more black-owned businesses in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Wilbon, Dean of the School of Business at Howard University, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as a speaker at the event.
A newly declassified letter by senators Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich claimed the CIA. has been conducting a Secret Surveillance Program which has been collecting a bulk of data from American citizens. The letter which was written in April of 2021 urges the CIA to come clean about the kind of data it collects and how many Americans have been impacted. According to these two senators, the program did not have the safeguards of congressional oversight.
Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at National Securities, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says investors are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the situation between Russia and the Ukraine and elaborates on the impact higher oil prices stemming from the conflict would have on the market.
Last week, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a a letter airing concerns that the CIA is collecting the data of American citizens without their consent. The lawmakers fear that the program might be exploiting private data. Morgan Wright, the chief security advisor at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ramifications of the letter. "We don't have all the dots in one place to connect them," said Wright, cautioning against jumping to conclusions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that diplomacy is still possible, while U.S. officials warn that an attack on Ukraine is imminent. Cheddar News speaks with James Astill, Washington bureau chief of The Economist on the latest developments in Eastern Europe.
As the number of Russian troops rose to 130,000 along its Ukrainian border, hopes for a diplomatic solution remain among world leaders. Jason McMann, head of geopolitical risk analysis at Morning Consult, joined Cheddar News to break down the fluid situation. "We saw signs pointing towards an increase in tensions between Ukraine and Russia, whereas today we're seeing some signs that the Russian government may be willing to continue down a path of diplomatic negotiations to try and find some sort of non-military solution," he said.
Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders are now planning to amend the stop trading on congressional knowledge act, otherwise known as the 'Stock' Act. This 2012 law governs how members disclose the purchase or sale of stocks and amending it would close a loophole, eliminating the trading of individual stocks by members of congress. Pelosi has consistently opposed a ban on stock trading by lawmakers and congressional staff...so what's changed? Kedric Payne, Vice President of Campaign Legal Center, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
In a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed for a controversial new version of the Alabama congressional map to remain in place. The lower court had previously ordered that the state must redraw that congressional map because it violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black voters. Redistricting expert Yurij Rudensky joins Cheddar News to weigh in.
