White House Will Not Seek To Revoke CNN Reporter Jim Acosta’s Press Pass

Brian Flood of FOX News wrote:

The White House will not seek to again revoke CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s hard pass, as first reported on Monday by FOX News' John Roberts.

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

Acosta was spotted at the White House moments after CNN issued its statement. It was widely believed earlier on Monday that the White House would again attempt to ban Acosta from the White House after legal threats were exchanged in a series of emails and court filings.

Acosta’s "hard pass," which provides expedited access to the White House grounds, was suspended earlier this month after he engaged in a contentious back-and-forth with Trump during a Nov. 7 press conference. Acosta then refused to pass the microphone to a female White House aide and there was brief contact between the two. His hard pass was revoked later that day and CNN argued that it violated the network and Acosta’s First and Fifth Amendment rights.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly temporarily restored Acosta’s credential. Later in the day, the White House sent the CNN reporter a letter informing him that a “preliminary decision” was made that his credential would be revoked, once again, after the temporary 14-day order expires.

The attorney for CNN and Acosta claimed in a Monday court filing that the White House was attempting to punish Acosta based on “retroactive” application of rules that aren’t written and requested a hearing for the week of Nov. 26. The request for an emergency hearing is now a moot point, as the White House will not seek to keep Acosta from covering President Trump.

Last week, FOX News announced that it would support CNN’s effort to restore Acosta’s White House credential and filed an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court.

Following the temporary decision, Trump told FOX News’ Chris Wallace that he will kick Acosta out of press conferences if he "misbehaves" going forward. The White House now plans to establish a set of rules for reporters who are covering the president.

“We’ll have rules of decorum, you know you can’t keep asking questions,” Trump told Wallace.

Acosta has emerged as a hero of the #Resistance after making a habit of shouting and interrupting when Trump and members of his administration are available to the media. The CNN reporter has also gotten into combative arguments with other members of the administration, including former Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and Senior Policy Adviser Stephen Miller.

“Let’s go back to work,” Acosta said outside the U.S. District Court last week.

FOX News’ John Roberts contributed to this report.