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Federal Judge Orders White House to Lift Ban on AP

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A federal judge on Tuesday ruled it was unconstitutional for the White House to bar the Associated Press from Oval Office events.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden said the move violated the First Amendment.

“The Government offers no other plausible explanation for its treatment of the AP. The Constitution forbids viewpoint discrimination, even in a nonpublic forum like the Oval Office,” wrote McFadden, a Trump appointee.

“Under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists—be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere—it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints,” he continued. “The Constitution requires no less.”

(Read more from “Federal Judge Orders White House to Lift Ban on AP” HERE)

Associated Press Loses Its First Court Battle With the Trump White House

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The Associated Press’ war with the Trump White House suffered its first loss when a judge declined to restore its Oval Office and Air Force One access. This legal scuffle is in no way over, but for now, the AP and their fake news reporters are barred from certain events at the White House. Still, the judge’s opinion also carried a warning that the White House was skating on thin ice (via NYT):

A federal judge cleared the way on Monday for the White House to continue barring The Associated Press from covering news events with President Trump, extending a legal fight over freedom of speech and press access, which Mr. Trump has long sought to challenge.

The Associated Press sued several top Trump administration officials last week, accusing them of violating the First and Fifth Amendments by barring its reporters from press events. The White House began turning away the wire service’s reporters this month, raising objections to its editorial decision to continue to refer to the Gulf of Mexico in its coverage, rather than calling the body of water the Gulf of America.

Judge Trevor N. McFadden of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who was appointed by Mr. Trump, said The Associated Press’s circumstances were “not the type of dire situation” that would require emergency intervention against the White House, in part because the organization could still report the news through shared reports sent out to all media organizations in the White House Correspondents’ Association.

(Read more from “Associated Press Loses Its First Court Battle With the Trump White House” HERE)

AP Style Guide Bans Use of ‘Crisis Pregnancy Centers’ for ‘Anti-Abortion Centers’

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The Associated Press (AP) has adopted an overt pro-abortion stance in its language choices, instructing its reporters to avoid the use of “crisis pregnancy centers” and “pregnancy resource centers” in favor of the derogatory “anti-abortion centers.”

Reporters should “avoid potentially misleading terms such as pregnancy resource centers or pregnancy counseling centers,” because “these terms don’t convey that the centers’ general aim is to prevent abortions,” the AP says in its most recent Abortion Topical Guide.

If using the term anti-abortion center, the Guide instructs, “explain later that these often are known as ‘crisis pregnancy centers’ (with quotation marks) and that their aim is to dissuade people from getting an abortion.”

The AP Guide also directs its journalists to use the modifiers “anti-abortion” or “abortion-rights,” rather than “pro-life,” “pro-choice,” or “pro-abortion” unless they are in quotes or proper names.

“Avoid abortionist, which connotes a person who performs clandestine abortions,” the Guide states. (Read more from “AP Style Guide Bans Use of ‘Crisis Pregnancy Centers’ for ‘Anti-Abortion Centers’” HERE)

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Fake News: Associated Press Engulfed in CNN-Level Scandal as It Covers up Invention of Imaginary Pruitt Meeting

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. . . A Breitbart News investigation has led to the correction by the Associated Press–which originally resisted–of the fake news it printed as deeper questions of responsibility, accountability, and journalistic ethics consume the AP heading into Fourth of July weekend.

This time, the Associated Press invented an imaginary meeting between EPA administrator Scott Pruitt and Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris, and then alleged that some kind of impropriety happened as a result.

This is exactly the same mistake CNN made a week ago, when it alleged that Anthony Scaramucci—the founder of SkyBridge Capital and an associate and ally of President Donald Trump—held “meetings” with Russian investment fund leaders and was under investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee and Treasury Department as a result.

A Breitbart News investigation uncovered that no such “meetings” took place, the Senate Intelligence Committee was not investigating the matter, and the Treasury Department had already—at the urging of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to now Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin before Trump’s inauguration—looked into it and determined the matter to be entirely “without merit.”

The very fake news scandal that is consuming CNN right now is the biggest scandal in the network’s history, and comes as media D.C.-wide find themselves under intense scrutiny amid a litany of industry mistakes. (Read more from “Fake News: Associated Press Engulfed in CNN-Level Scandal as It Covers up Invention of Imaginary Pruitt Meeting” HERE)

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Former FBI Agent to Plead Guilty in AP Leak Case and Child Porn Charges

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The former FBI agent who pleaded guilty to child pornography charges earlier this year will also plead guilty to leaking classified information about an Al Qaeda bomb plot to The Associated Press – in a case of spilled secrets that the Justice Department called one of the most serious in U.S. history.

Donald John Sachtleben of Carmel, Ind., a former FBI technician and government contractor, has signed plea agreements in both cases, the U.S. attorney’s office said Monday.

“I am deeply sorry for my actions,” Sachtleben said in a written statement. “While I never intended harm to the United States or to any individuals, I do not make excuses for myself. I understand and accept that today’s filings start the process of paying the full consequences of my misconduct, and I know that the justice system I once served so proudly will have its say.”

Charges in the child pornography case against Sachtleben were filed in May 2012 after law enforcement officials said they found child porn they were able to trace to his home computer. That complaint alleges that an examination of Sachtleben’s laptop revealed the presence of about 30 images of child porn that he is accused of trading with other people using the email address [email protected].

Nine days before those charges were filed, prosecutors say Sachtleben gave up national defense information to a news reporter related to a disrupted terrorist plot.

Read more from this story HERE.

Busted: AP Caught Covering for Obama’s Geography Fail

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After being widely criticized for editing out President Barack Obama’s geography gaffe made during his late-night TV interview with Jay Leno, the Associated Press has responded to public pressure and issued a thorough correction regarding its initial story.

“In an Aug. 7 story on President Barack Obama’s comments on the need to deepen U.S. harbors, The Associated Press wrongly inserted an interpretive phrase in parentheses into a quote by Obama,” the AP writes.

Here is the altered quote in question:

“If we don’t deepen our ports all along the Gulf – (and in) places like Charleston, S.C., or Savannah, Ga., or Jacksonville, Fla. – if we don’t do that, these ships are going to go someplace else and we’ll lose jobs.”

Many sharp viewers were quick to point out that neither Charleston, S.C., nor Savannah, Ga., or even Jacksonville, Fla., are located along the Gulf. Clearly, adding the “(and in)” alters the statement in a fundamental way, making the statement seem like it wasn’t a gaffe at all.

Read more from this story HERE.

James O’Keefe Says He Was Harassed by Federal Agents

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Photo Credit: dsm012

Photo Credit: dsm012

Journalist James O’Keefe tells Newsmax that the Justice Department monitoring of Associated Press reporters is similar to what he faced when he was investigating voter fraud during the 2012 elections.

O’Keefe’s organization Project Veritas videotaped a man who nearly voted as Attorney General Eric Holder when a poll worker was about to hand over the attorney general’s ballot.

“This spying on reporters is exactly what I faced when I did these voter fraud investigations,” O’Keefe said in an exclusive interview with Newsmax TV. “I had agents showing up at the homes of my friends — and I don’t even know how they got their addresses and that’s a very interesting thought — we had our emails shared potentially with members of the media.

“Again this could have only come from the federal government,” said O’Keefe.

O’Keefe is the author of the new book “Breakthrough: Our Guerilla War to Expose Fraud and Save Democracy.”

Read more from this story HERE.

AP, NY Times Snub Obama Administration, Refuse to Attend Off-Record Briefing

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The Associated Press says it will not attend this week’s off-the-record meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder unless the Justice Department decides to change its mind and conduct the meeting on the record.

“We believe the meeting should be on the record and we have said that to the Attorney General’s office. If it is on the record, AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll will attend. If it is not on the record, AP will not attend and instead will offer our views on how the regulations should be updated in an open letter,” AP spokesperson Erin Madigan said in a statement sent to POLITICO. “We would expect AP attorneys to be included in any planned meetings between the Attorney General’s office and media lawyers on the legal specifics.”

The AP’s decision comes over an hour after The New York Times announced that it would not be attending the meeting, citing concerns about the DOJ’s off-the-record provision.

Read more from this story HERE.

His Days are Numbered: Holder Personally OK’d Search Warrant for Fox News Reporter’s Private Emails

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Photo Credit: Chip SomodevillaAttorney General Eric Holder signed off on a controversial search warrant that identified Fox News reporter James Rosen as a “possible co-conspirator” in violations of the Espionage Act and authorized seizure of his private emails, a law enforcement official told NBC News on Thursday.

The disclosure of the attorney general’s role came as President Barack Obama, in a major speech on his counterterrorism policy, said Holder had agreed to review Justice Department guidelines governing investigations that involve journalists.

“I am troubled by the possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism that holds government accountable,” Obama said. “Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs.”

Rosen, who has not been charged in the case, was nonetheless the target of a search warrant that enabled Justice Department investigators to secretly seize his private emails after an FBI agent said he had “asked, solicited and encouraged … (a source) to disclose sensitive United States internal documents and intelligence information.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Admin. Apparently has Another National Security Leak

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Photo Credit: Channel 2 NewsThe Justice Department’s seizure of Associated Press reporters’ phone records was reportedly one element of a “sweeping” federal investigation to find out who leaked classified information about a failed Al-Qaeda plot to bomb an American airliner.

Now, the Obama administration has reportedly apologized to Israel for another leak of classified information to the media, one that occurred earlier this month and which Israeli officials are concerned could place Israeli lives at risk.

Israel Radio’s diplomatic correspondent Chico Menashe reported Sunday morning (via the Jerusalem Post):

American officials apologized to their Israeli counterparts for confirming that Israel was behind the airstrikes on the Damascus airport earlier this month, Israel Radio reported on Sunday.

The confirmation reportedly came from the lower ranks at the Pentagon, and the reasons for the leak are being investigated.

Read more from this story HERE.