Journalist Simon Ateba sues to restore White House press badge

WASHINGTON — African journalist Simon Ateba filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and the Secret Service, accusing them of unconstitutionally rescinding his press badge following a series of briefing-room disruptions.

The lawsuit claims officials of violating Ateba’s First and Fifth Amendment rights in “an unconstitutional attempt to arbitrarily restrict who qualifies as ‘the press.’

The White House announced on May 5 new rules for press badges, known as hard passes, and for the first time in US history laid out a process by which journalists could lose their credentials to close a longstanding legal loophole that prevented authorities from yanking press badges.

The new rules were unveiled weeks after a March 20 briefing at which Ateba shouted that Jean-Pierre was making a “mockery of the First Amendment” by entering the briefing room with the cast of the Apple TV show “Ted Lasso.”

The feel-good fictional soccer show’s cast included a phony reporter who had attempted to take a real reporter’s seat moments earlier as part of a promotional stunt.

Although some journalists privately agreed with Ateba, the timing of his interruption was widely scorned and fellow reporters attempted to hush him because he shouted before Jean-Pierre or the celebrity guests had an opportunity to speak.

Questions and out-of-turn shouting traditionally happens after speakers make their remarks.

“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,” says Ateba’s lawsuit, filed by attorney Harmeet Dhillon, who in January ran unsuccessfully to be chair of the Republican National Committee.

“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.”

Ateba was born in Cameroon and formerly worked in Nigeria and writes for Today News Africa, an online publication he founded. When called on at the White House, he has asked questions about matters that impact Africa — ranging from malaria policy and Temporary Protected Status for Africans living in the US — as well as about matters that other journalists shy away from.

He was the first reporter to ask then-press secretary Jen Psaki about reports that she was job-hunting for a cable news position, before she left the White House for MSNBC, and asked National Security Council spokesman John Kirby if he was effectively a “second press secretary” after he began to lead briefings after stumbles by Jean-Pierre.

Ateba says in the lawsuit he didn’t apply for a badge renewal by the July 31 deadline because the new rules required credentials from the Capitol or Supreme Court, which he lacked.

His badge was terminated July 31, he said, and he subsequently applied for a badge renewal on Aug. 4.

Federal courts ruled twice during the Trump administration that the White House had no legal right to suspend for 30 days the hard passes of journalists because there was no established mechanism to do so, meaning they lacked due process.

The White House told Politico’s West Wing Playbook last week that the number of hard pass holders fell from 1417 before the July 31 deadline to 975, though the overwhelming majority of the reduction is believed to be journalists who no longer cover the White House who opted not to reapply.

Only one hard pass holder who reapplied was denied, a spokesperson told Politico. It’s unclear who that individual is.

The White House ultimately may deny more, however, because at least a handful of badge-holders were allowed to temporarily keep their credentials despite not meeting the new standards.

In one case, a badge-holder’s attorney sent a cease and desist letter to the press office before being told a final verdict on their situation would be postponed.

Journalists without a hard pass can still request a “day pass” to visit the White House on a specific date.

However, the lack of a hard pass prevents the press from attending White House events at a moment’s notice.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.