Cameroonian journalist Simon Ateba filed a lawsuit against White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre over an alleged violation of press freedom with respect to him and other correspondents covering the US president, according to a court filing published on Friday.
Ateba owns the news website Today News Africa and covers the White House as its correspondent.
In the complaint, he states that the US Secret Service terminated on July 31 his pass to access the White House campus without any reason or explanation. However, the journalist says he believes this decision is due to the fact he repeatedly asked Jean-Pierre uncomfortable questions and also tried to shout out his questions when she refused his right to ask them.
The journalist also says in his complaint that the White House recently changed the guidelines for obtaining passes, which resulted in 442 reporters losing them, and asks the court to declare the new credentialing rules unconstitutional.
Ateba, who has been covering the White House since 2018 and has possessed a pass since February 2021, also points to the White House’s refusal to communicate with him and answer questions, which negatively affects his ability to inform readers.
"'The press' does not just include a small class of elite journalists, credentialed by one another. The First Amendment’s guarantees protect the public’s right to engage in constitutionally protected press activity," the lawsuit reads.
The owner of the news site asks the court to declare illegal the new guidelines for issuing passes and asks for an injunction or declaring the decision of the US Secret Service to annul his pass to be unlawful.
The second defendant in the case is US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.