WASHINGTON: The Trump administration on Wednesday defended in court its decision to suspend the press pass of a CNN reporter, arguing that no journalist has the first amendment right to enter the White House.
CNN filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump and several of his top aides, seeking the immediate restoration of the network's correspondent Jim Acosta's press pass to the White House which was suspended following a testy exchange with the US president.
The Justice Department, in a court filing Wednesday, said: "No journalist has a First Amendment right to enter the White House".
The filing was in response to a lawsuit filed by the CNN after the White House last week suspended the press pass of CNN's Chief White House Correspondent Acosta.
The lawsuit filed in US District Court in Washington, DC on Tuesday alleged that Acosta and CNN's First and Fifth Amendment rights are being violated by the ban.
"The president and White House possess the same broad discretion to regulate access to the White House for journalists (and other members of the public) that they possess to select which journalists receive interviews, or which journalists they acknowledge at press conferences," the Department of Justice asserted.
During a White House press conference last Wednesday, Acosta challenged Trump's use of the word "invasion" to describe a migrant caravan heading to the US from Central America.
When Acosta tried to ask a question about the Russia investigation into alleged interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump told him repeatedly "that's enough" and "put down the mic".
Hours after the encounter, seen across the world, the White House, in an unprecedented move, suspended Acosta's press pass, known as a Secret Service "hard pass".