CREEP by creep, stealth by stealth, and inch by inch, the erosion of the Constitution has been totally shredded. Every last vestige is a thing of the past; only fools or knaves would dare argue otherwise.
FOR, the Deep State Mafia no longer makes any pretense to the contrary, beyond brazen. As such, third-world dictatorships can now claim the “high ground” — and they would be right!
In fact, once Biden, Inc.-Obama 3.0 attempted to establish a “Ministry of Truth, “the slippery slope was reached; the crossing of the Rubicon.
To wit, if one hadn’t been convinced, it is long overdue to stick a fork in the Freedom of the Press.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
THE DAILY SIGNALÂ | By Rob Bluey | August 4, 2023
Over the past three months, the number of reporters with access to the White House dropped by 31%. There are now 442 fewer reporters with a coveted “hard pass”—the result of new rules announced in May that took effect Tuesday.
The Daily Signal’s Fred Lucas was among the reporters slated to lose his White House press credentials, although he was given a 10-day extension “to submit the required materials.” The White House now requires reporters to obtain press credentials from Congress or the Supreme Court to fulfill its new requirement; Lucas is awaiting a decision on his applications to the other branches.
BREAKING: The @WhiteHouse is changing the rules for press hard passes to target me. But I qualify for all those things as we just filed our taxes, are registered with the District of Columbia and have our address in DC. I studied journalism in college, received two degrees, have… pic.twitter.com/NMvVF4WSaC
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) May 5, 2023
As White House Limits Access to Press Briefings, Daily Signal Reporter Loses Credentials
Politico’s West Wing Playbook first reported the numbers Wednesday, along with news that Simon Ateba, the White House correspondent for Today News Africa, lost his hard pass. Ateba and the other 441 reporters who no longer have credentials won’t be able to attend White House press briefings or access the sprawling Pennsylvania Avenue campus unless they obtain a temporary day pass.
The White House announced new rules in May to limit the number of journalists eligible for a White House hard pass. Reporters are still allowed to apply for a day pass but must do so daily and undergo Secret Service review.
Until this week, the White House didn’t disclose the number of reporters who had a hard pass. Politico reported, “Within the past three months, the number of hard pass holders dropped from 1,417 to 975, with those approved reflecting a mix of renewals and new applications.”
The @WhiteHouse is requiring journalists to apply for press credentials from Congress or SCOTUS in an attempt to target conservative journalists.
If our @FredLucasWH doesn't play by Biden's new rules, he'll get booted from the White House (after 14 years of stellar coverage). pic.twitter.com/2WjetT8bQC
— The Daily Signal (@DailySignal) August 4, 2023
The @WhiteHouse is requiring journalists to apply for press credentials from Congress or SCOTUS in an attempt to target conservative journalists.
If our @FredLucasWH doesn’t play by Biden’s new rules, he’ll get booted from the White House (after 14 years of stellar coverage). pic.twitter.com/2WjetT8bQC
— The Daily Signal (@DailySignal) August 4, 2023
A spokesman for the White House confirmed to Politico that one individual who applied for a hard pass was denied under the new rules. The White House didn’t disclose the reporter’s name.
The six rules outlined in the May memo require reporters to be employed full-time at an organization that disseminates news, live in the Washington, D.C., area, regularly access and cover the White House, and submit to a Secret Service investigation. They also require pass holders to obtain “accreditation by a press gallery in either the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, or Supreme Court.” (See the full email from the White House Press Office at the end of this story.)
The memo also gives President Joe Biden’s press team greater power to expel journalists who don’t “act in a professional manner.” Ateba regularly sparred with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, leading to stories in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and an appearance on the now-canceled “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
Last month, the White House Press Office warned Ateba that he risked expulsion if he continued interrupting briefings violating the new rules.
Lucas has covered the White House during the presidencies of Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Biden. He has watched the press office and White House Correspondents’ Association change during his 14 years.
The White House clashed with reporters over media access during the Trump administration. CNN reporter Jim Acosta and Playboy correspondent Brian Karem were booted, although each took their cases to court and eventually won reinstatement.
This time, however, few reporters are standing up in opposition to the new rules. Even the White House Correspondents’ Association “has taken an officially noncommittal stance,” according to The Washington Post.
Kelly O’Donnell, a senior White House correspondent for NBC News, currently president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, did not respond to The Daily Signal’s inquiry about the 442 reporters whose credentials were revoked.
The Daily Signal, a media outlet founded by The Heritage Foundation in 2014, doesn’t have press credentials to cover Congress or the Supreme Court, although Lucas has applied for both and continues to await a decision from each institution.
The Supreme Court has a limited number of hard-pass holders—just 25 for the past term. Congressional galleries, governed by a committee of journalists, have their own rules.
The White House says the new rules will enhance security by limiting access to hard passes.
“At the time we initiated this process in early May, roughly 40 percent of hard pass holders had not accessed the White House complex in the prior 90 days,” a White House spokesman told Politico. “We think this demonstrates we’ve led a thoughtful and thorough process that preserves robust media access to campus for everyone who needs it—whether that be with a hard pass or a day pass.”
