CNN and Acosta Will Have A Lot to Answer For Later

The judge practically ordered the White House to devise rules of conduct and procedure for reporters to follow.

Regarding William McGurn’s “The Jim Acosta Hour” (Main Street, Nov. 20): CNN and Jim Acosta have blundered badly in characteristic fashion. They have made a great self-aggrandizing show of themselves while causing actual injury to the White House press corps. The press has no constitutional right to be located in the White House, and its presence has been expanded over the years only as presidents saw it as useful.

The court ruling was under the federal Administrative Procedure Act, under which a right, benefit or privilege granted by the federal government (such as a press pass) can only be denied by showing a violation of existing standards. In other words, the judge practically ordered the White House to devise rules of conduct and procedure for reporters to follow. You may be sure the White House is happily at work drafting rules prohibiting shouting, arguing and limiting reporters to a single question. Their colleagues will owe it all to CNN and Jim Acosta.

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