White House, CNN continue fight over press room access in dispute over coronavirus briefings

The White House and CNN reportedly continued their fight over press room access in dispute over a reporting seat at Friday's coronavirus briefing.
 

The altercation could be the next step in the White House exerting what it argues is its constitutionally-sound right to maintain order in its press briefings.  

Under the existing media seating chart created by the journalist-run White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA), CNN has prime real estate on the front row.

"Earlier today before the briefing, a White House official instructed the print pooler to take CNN’s seat in the briefing room because the seating would be swapped for the briefing," Chris Johnson, the chief political reporter and White House reporter for the Washington Blade, wrote in a press pool report. "Given the seating assignment is under the jurisdiction of White House Correspondents' Association, not the White House, pooler refused to move." 

Johnson said the dispute continued until the Secret Service stepped in.

"The White House official then informed the print pooler swapping wasn’t an option and the Secret Service was involved," Johnson wrote. "Again, pooler refused to move, citing guidance from the WHCA. The briefing proceeded with both CNN and print pooler sitting in their respective assigned seats."

At press time, Johnson did not respond to questions clarifying who the "White House official" was or whether "the Secret Service was involved" meant there was some sort of physical altercation. Leaders of the WHCA did not respond to request for comment at press time, either.

President Trump's Friday briefing was far shorter than his usual White House Coronavirus Task Force briefings, lasting only 22 minutes with only one journalist question taken (by Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn).

Earlier this month, the Justice Department rejected a CNN political analyst's legal claim he deserved access to President Trump's coronavirus briefings, warning the White House press room is ultimately federal property and not the legal domain of journalists.

The DOJ's letter rejecting CNN and Playboy journalist Brian Karem's demands to access the briefings appeared to serve notice to WHCA that its power to regulate who attends White House press briefings was based only on years of "tradition" and not a legal right.

“The press Briefing Room is White House property," and the White House press secretary "merely acquiesced" to WHCA's seating arrangements for reporters during the pandemic, the department's letter stated. The letter also cited court case law indicating that a president choosing which media outlets to speak to and deny did not violate the First Amendment.

Karem, a frequent Trump critic, objected to being denied access to the briefings by WHCA while the White House allowed Chanel Rion, a reporter for conservative outlet One America News, into the briefing room independently of WHCA approval. The WHCA recently voted to ban Rion from the briefings, however Rion returned to the briefing room as a guest of the White House press secretary.