White House Boots WSJ From Press Pool Over Report On ‘FAKE’ Epstein Letter

The White House blocked The Wall Street Journal from joining the press pool for President Donald Trump’s weekend trip to Scotland.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Wall Street Journal reporter Tarini Parti has been removed from the pool over her outlet’s “fake and defamatory” story regarding the extent of the president’s past relationship with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.

“As the appeals court confirmed, the Wall Street Journal or any other news outlet are not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and in his private workspaces,” Leavitt told Politico in a statement. “Due to the Wall Street Journal’s fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the thirteen outlets on board. Every news organization in the entire world wishes to cover President Trump, and the White House has taken significant steps to include as many voices as possible.”

Trump filed a libel suit against The Wall Street Journal last week after the outlet published a story on a risque birthday message Trump allegedly sent to Epstein in 2003. The president has dismissed the birthday letter at the center of the story as “FAKE.”

The White House Correspondents’ Association said the White House’s action against The Wall Street Journal “defies the First Amendment.”

“Government retaliation against news outlets based on the content of their reporting should concern all who value free speech and an independent media,” CBS News correspondent and association president Weijia Jiang said in a statement. “We strongly urge the White House to restore the Wall Street Journal to its previous position in the pool and aboard Air Force One for the President’s upcoming trip to Scotland. The WHCA stands ready to work with the administration to find a quick resolution.”

The association previously oversaw entry into the press pool and grant access to the pool for special events, such as the president’s trip to Scotland. The White House stripped the association of the authority earlier this year, ending the power of a cabal of “D.C.-based journalists” to dictate “which journalists get to ask questions of the president of the United States in these most intimate spaces,” Leavitt said at the time.

Earlier this year, the president banned all Associated Press reporters and photographers from all pools over the outlet’s refusal to recognize the renamed “Gulf of America.” The legality of the outlet’s removal is currently being litigated in court.