Fox News is taking press room solidarity to a new level.
After President Trump's administration stripped Jim Acosta, CNN's chief White House correspondent, of his press pass last week, the network filed a lawsuit alleging a handful of Trump officials violated Acosta's First and Fifth Amendment rights. And in a Wednesday statement, Fox News President Jay Wallace revealed the network would file an amicus brief on CNN's behalf.
At a Nov. 7 press briefing the morning after Election Day, Acosta refused to give up his microphone after Trump blew off his questions about the migrant caravan. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later accused Acosta of "placing his hands on" an intern who tried to take the microphone, and tweeted a doctored video of the incident. Sanders didn't mention the allegation again on in a Wednesday statement.
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Fox News was the first to announce it would file brief to support CNN's lawsuit on Wednesday, and a gaggle of press organizations quickly followed.
Fox News previously sided with CNN after reporter Kaitlan Collins was banned from a Rose Garden event in July. Fox News' Bret Baier also supported CNN after a February 2017 press room banning, comparing it to when CNN and The New York Times backed Fox News after former President Barack Obama's administration tried to block the network from a press event.
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