White House reporter sues Karine Jean-Pierre after losing press pass

[AZLD4Candidate]

Source: AOL News

A member of the White House press corps has filed a lawsuit against White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and the Secret Service, alleging they wrongfully revoked his press badge.

In his suit filed Thursday, African journalist Simon Ateba argues that the White House policy for revoking press access violates the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution. President Biden's White House announced new rules in May that – for the first time – allowed for rescinding a press badge.

"Defendants violated Mr. Ateba’s First Amendment rights by changing the criteria for hard pass credentials to intentionally prevent Mr. Ateba from obtaining hard pass access," the lawsuit reads.

"Defendants did so by adopting credentialing criteria specifically designed to exclude Mr. Ateba from eligibility. Such discrimination amounts to a content-based regulation and viewpoint discrimination against Mr. Ateba in violation of the First Amendment," it continues.

Read more: https://www.aol.com/news/white-house-reporter-sues-karine-185418025.html

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It's from Fox (unfortunately) but it's on AOL News, so I posted it.

Two things:

1: This is not a reporter. He is a propagandist
2: Fox with another hit piece on Biden.

This will get laughed out of court.

[JohnSJ]

1. Exactly, Ateba is a disrupter, and has been warned multiple times that his press credentials would

be revoked if he continued his not following the rules.

"In an unsigned letter, the White House press office told Ateba that he was at risk of losing his “hard” pass — the credential that enables reporters to enter the White House grounds at will — if he continues to disrupt briefings."

"The letter cited six episodes on four occasions since early December in which Ateba interrupted or talked over other reporters to ask a question. He twice interrupted the March 20 briefing. During a briefing in December, his insistence that he be allowed to speak prompted Jean-Pierre to end the briefing early. Reporters have scolded him, saying his intrusions prevent them from asking questions."


https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/07/12/simon-ateba-white-house-warning/?nid=top_pb_signin&arcId=OR5GVBHFUNCBLAXYQW3ZJNFJXU&account_location=ONSITE_HEADER_ARTICLE

[Happy Hoosier]

2. Ah jeez. That's terrible.

A propagandist gets denied a hard pass? Whodathunkit?

Aaaaaaanyway....

[onetexan]

12. THIS!!☝️

[2naSalit]

18. +1

[VMA131Marine]

3. Ateba does not appear to be a US citizen, he's from Cameroon

furthermore, access to WH press briefings is a privilege, not a right. This lawsuit should go nowhere. Meanwhile, someone should be checking on Mr Ateba’s immigration status; the “news organization” he works for has exactly one employee: Simon Ateba.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. This asshole does not deserve a press pass

[twodogsbarking]

6. Case closed.

[LiberalFighter]

5. I get po when "journalists" don't have decent manners and just shout at press conferences.

[AZLD4Candidate]

24. You must hate Steve Douchey's demon spawn from hell then.

[cstanleytech]

7. There is no 1st amendment protection for a press pass being revoked.

[PatSeg]

11. Or for being disruptive during a press conference

[hlthe2b]

8. I believe he pissed off the entire press corps with his prior antics, so this suit is going nowhere.

[Paladin]

9. Good riddance. (nt)

[PatSeg]

10. From the New York Times in July

During a press briefing on June 26, Mr. Ateba “interrupted the press secretary” and “did not stop interrupting” other reporters. (“You’ve been discriminating against me for the past nine months,” Ateba had yelled.) On Dec. 8, 2022, he interrupted the press secretary and other journalists, actions that “required the press secretary to end the briefing.” (“Why is it hard for you to give me a question?” he had demanded.) On May 13, 2022, he “repeatedly interrupted colleagues.” It went on. If Mr. Ateba did not stop interrupting, the letter concluded, he might be barred from the briefing room altogether.

For the past year and a half, that cramped, 49-seat theater at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has been the main stage for the Simon Ateba show — a protest act that has propelled him, the 43-year-old owner and apparently the sole employee of an obscure news organization, into the national conversation.

Through his persistent bellowing and disregard for decorum, Mr. Ateba has succeeded in getting under the skin of Jen Psaki, the first press secretary under President Biden, and now the current press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, making him a folk hero in the right-wing media. This year alone, he has appeared on Fox News, Newsmax and One America News Network, as well as the podcasts of the conservative media personalities Glenn Beck and Dana Loesch.

“I’m this African guy with no money and no big name behind me, and people love it when the little guy fights,” Mr. Ateba said in an interview last month.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/26/style/simon-ateba-white-house-today-news-africa.html



Apparently Mr. Ateba does it for the attention. He was given many warnings and he still persisted.

[Pencougar1]

13. Guy is too full of himself

Well deserved boot out of the room - now get rid of that Fox clown Ducy

[SpankMe]

14. I've heard of no other WH press pass holders coming to his aid so far

Ateba has alienated the rest of the press corps with his time consuming outbursts.

[Ford_Prefect]

15. Ateba is a solo act fronting for Today News Africa website which he owns.

How he got a pass in the first place begs a few questions. IMO his "news" service resembles a Murdoch scandal sheet rather than straight journalism including many self-promoting pieces.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Ateba

In April 2023, Ateba falsely claimed he was banned from the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner. Only news organizations that employ WHCA members are allowed to buy tickets to the dinner. Ateba was unable to provide evidence he was employed by a legitimate news organization;[4] he is the owner and sole staffer of the website Today News Africa, for which he is the White House correspondent.[4][10] Since Ateba's application to join the association was rejected, he cannot buy tickets to the event; however, another outlet could invite him as a guest.[4] Ateba tweeted out the phone number of WHCA president Tamara Keith, who had complained about his behavior; he later deleted the tweets.[10]

In June 2023, following another heated exchange between Ateba and Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House's published official video coverage of the presser omitted the portion of the event that included the exchange. White House officials blamed a technical "glitch" for the edit, and it was later restored.[10]

In July 2023, the White House warned Ateba that he would risk losing access to briefings if he continued to disrupt and prevent other reporters from asking questions when called

[2naSalit]

19. +1

[PortTack]

16. You're invited..okay. Don't follow the rules leave and don't come back

How many times was a legitimate press/journalist person closed out by the orange thing’s press conferences or rallies…geez.

[IronLionZion]

17. Simon Ateba is a rude, disrespectful idiot with frequent interruptions

He deserved to lose his press pass. Only conservative media are spinning this nonsense in a very dishonest way.

[AZLD4Candidate]

25. You expect anything less from the right wing noise machine/echo chamber?

[2naSalit]

20. I wonder how he funds his little enterprise.

[Ford_Prefect]

21. Ya think???

Some Koch or Murdoch related third party is likely funneling aid and assistance as we speak.

[2live is 2fly]

22. Agree, Luckily can usually smell these ppl (like O'Keefe & Prince nm just 2) b4 they get too close

[NYC Liberal]

23. There are tens of thousands of journalists who don't get a press pass

Thousands of media outlets that don’t get a seat in the press room. Can the National Enquirer or Extraterrestrial Monthly or Nutjob Tribune sue for not getting access? What about every amateur journalist printing their own “newspaper”?

The first amendment allows the press to publish freely without government censorship or retribution. It doesn’t guarantee access. The first presidential press conference only happened just over 100 years ago in 1913.