Fox News To File Amicus Brief In Support Of CNN's Jim Acosta Lawsuit

CNN’s lawsuit was assigned to U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly, who was appointed by Trump and previously worked for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

White House officials have shifted their story about the rationale for revoking Acosta’s “hard pass,” which grants him access as a member of the White House press pool.

Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders initially tweeted an apparently doctored video promoted by the right-wing conspiracy website Infowars, purporting to show Acosta placing his hands on the White House intern who was trying to take away the microphone he was using during the press conference.

In responding to the lawsuit on Tuesday, she accused Acosta of being rude to other reporters and said he and the network were “grandstanding.”

Journalism and press advocacy organizations have defended Acosta and condemned the White House  for its decision, one of a series of incidents involving Trump and his administration encouraging animosity against reporters and trying to infringe on press freedom.

Along with Fox News, a number of other media organizations said Wednesday that they would join the amicus brief supporting CNN, including the Associated Press, Bloomberg, BuzzFeed News, First Look Media, Gannett, NBC, The New York Times, Politico, USA Today and The Washington Post.

This story has been updated with more information about the underlying dispute and the amicus brief.