TWH Fully Restores Acosta's Press Pass

CNN's Jim Acosta

CNN dropped its lawsuit against the White House on Monday after officials told the network that they would restore reporter Jim Acosta’s press credentials as long as he abides by a series of new rules at presidential news conferences, including asking just one question at a time, reports The Washington Post.

“Today the White House fully restored Jim Acosta’s press pass,” CNN said in a statement. “As a result, our lawsuit is no longer necessary. We look forward to continuing to cover the White House.”

White House officials had suspended Acosta’s White House press pass following a contentious news conference on Nov. 7.

It was apparently an about-face from the position that press secretary Sarah Sanders and deputy chief of staff Bill Shine staked out just three days ago when they told Acosta and CNN that they will suspend his press pass again once a temporary restraining order against such an action expires. The 14-day order was issued Friday, and unless the judge extends it, it would expire at the end of the month.

Sanders said then that the White House would only “temporarily reinstate” Acosta’s credentials in response to a preliminary court decision in his favor. In a letter sent late Friday that was made public on Monday, Sanders and Shine acknowledged that there are no formal rules for how journalists are supposed to conduct themselves at presidential news conferences, but that Acosta had violated “basic, widely understood practices” by asking multiple questions and refusing to yield a microphone during the president’s news conference.

As a result, the officials said they would once again take away Acosta’s ability to enter the White House grounds after the restraining order lapsed.

But on Monday, Sanders and Shine said they had made a “final determination” that Acosta’s pass is restored. “Should you refuse to follow [new rules] in the future, we will take action” to remove the pass.

Among the rules: Reporters must ask one question of the president at news conferences but can follow up with another if the president chooses. A reporter must then “yield the floor,” including giving up a microphone. Failure to abide by these rules, the White House letter said, will result in revocation of a journalist’s White House pass.