first_published_at,last_published_at,title,slug,latest_revision_created_at,charges,legal_orders,updates,categories,links,equipment_seized,equipment_broken,targeted_journalists,authors,date,exact_date_unknown,city,state,latitude,longitude,body,introduction,teaser,teaser_image,primary_video,image_caption,arrest_status,arresting_authority,release_date,detention_date,unnecessary_use_of_force,case_number,case_statuses,case_type,status_of_seized_equipment,is_search_warrant_obtained,actor,border_point,target_us_citizenship_status,denial_of_entry,stopped_previously,did_authorities_ask_for_device_access,did_authorities_ask_about_work,assailant,was_journalist_targeted,charged_under_espionage_act,subpoena_type,subpoena_statuses,name_of_business,third_party_business,legal_order_target,legal_order_type,legal_order_venue,status_of_prior_restraint,mistakenly_released_materials,type_of_denial,targeted_institutions,tags,target_nationality,workers_whose_communications_were_obtained,politicians_or_public_figures_involved 2019-08-08 16:20:40.033820+00:00,2023-12-21 16:53:10.911929+00:00,"White House suspends correspondent’s press pass, reporter alleges retaliation",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/white-house-suspends-correspondents-press-pass-reporter-alleges-retaliation/,2023-12-21 16:53:10.758773+00:00,,,"(2019-08-20 00:00:00+00:00) Reporter sues after his White House press pass was revoked, (2019-09-03 11:32:00+00:00) Judge rules White House must restore hard pass for journalist Brian Karem, (2022-05-10 13:11:00+00:00) Playboy correspondent reaches settlement in lawsuit against the White House, (2020-06-05 13:17:00+00:00) Federal appeals court upholds ruling reinstating reporter’s White House press pass",Denial of Access,,,,Brian Karem (Playboy),,2019-08-05,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"

Brian Karem, a White House correspondent for Playboy and political analyst for CNN, tweeted that beginning on Aug. 5, 2019, his press pass would be suspended for 30 days.

Karem received an email from White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham at around 5 p.m. the Friday before the suspension went into effect notifying him of the “preliminary decision,” citing his actions at President Donald Trump’s social media summit the previous month, The Washington Post reported. At a press event in the Rose Garden that day, Karem had a heated exchange with former White House aide and radio host Sebastian Gorka.

Gorka has had at least one other altercation with the media.

Karem wrote in an article for Playboy that the move to pull his press pass was actually in retaliation for him “rock[ing] the boat” and “ask[ing] hard questions” over the last several weeks.

“They’re claiming [the reason is] something that happened 21 days ago. I’m there every day. If this was an issue, it should’ve been brought to my attention long before now,” Karem told the Post.

Playboy and Karem have retained First Amendment attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr., who successfully represented CNN and Jim Acosta when Acosta’s credentials were suspended in November 2018.

In a response and appeal to Grisham dated Aug. 5, Boutrous noted that in the letter to Karem, Grisham acknowledged that the White House had not issued any “explicit rules… to govern behavior by members of the press at White House press events.” Citing multiple instances where other attendees at the press event in July engaged in similar behavior to Karem’s but were not censured, Boutrous argued that the suspension was “arbitrary and unfair.”

Boutrous additionally highlighted that Karem had reached out to the press office multiple times to discuss the incident, but the first meeting was canceled and subsequent emails ended without a meeting scheduled.

“Hard passes are not meant to be weaponized as a means of penalizing reporters for coverage with which the administration disagrees based on amorphous and subjective standards,” Boutrous wrote. “Such actions unconstitutionally chill the free press.”

The White House Correspondents’ Association published a statement in support of Karem on Aug. 4.

“We sincerely hope this White House does not again make the mistake of revoking a reporter’s hard pass,” WHCA President Jonathan Karl said in the statement. “The WHCA has stood up to violations of due process rights before and we stand ready to safeguard those rights for all reporters who work to hold our government accountable.”

",,,https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS2LUYQ_YAiac1K.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg,None,"

Former White House staffer Sebastian Gorka walks away after yelling at Playboy writer and White House correspondent Brian Karem (center, in tie and blue suit) and members of the press corps during a summit in the Rose Garden.

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