CNN Boss Mark Thompson Vows to Fight Trump’s White House Press Ban ‘To the End’

CNN chairman and editor-in-chief Mark Thompson vowed Wednesday to fight President Donald Trump’s efforts to restrict the network’s White House access “to the end,” following a federal judge’s ruling that the administration’s press ban likely violated the First Amendment. Speaking on CNN, Thompson called Tuesday’s preliminary injunction protecting CNN, MS NOW and Politico a “really big boost.” “To me, it’s a vote of confidence in free speech and our right, not really so much for ourselves but on behalf of the public everywhere,” he said. The ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, blocks the administration from reinstating its ban on the three outlets while their lawsuit proceeds. Kelly found that they were likely to succeed on their First Amendment and due process claims. The White House said Wednesday that it plans to appeal. Thompson also addressed the Justice Department’s antitrust investigation into CNN, ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC over their coordinated suspension of certain White House press pool coverage. The DOJ is examining whether the networks violated antitrust laws through a collective boycott. “We’re going to cooperate with it, try and understand it,” Thompson said, while stressing the need to remain “ever vigilant and always prepared to fight.” The CNN chief also recalled a 2009 dispute in which the Obama administration attempted to exclude Fox News from interviews with a Treasury official. Other networks backed Fox at the time, which Thompson cited as an example of news organizations standing together. “We support each other because we know that this can be something which happens with governments of the left, governments of the right, governments of the center,” he said. Thompson also warned that governments risk undermining fundamental rights when they lose patience with critical coverage. “No matter how many court cases, investigations, court appearances, and all the expense that that entails, we will fight this one to the end,” he said.