WASHINGTON—CNN, MS NOW, and Politico announced this morning that they are suing President Trump and three advisors after the administration banned the news outlets from the White House and confiscated their reporters’ press credentials.

The following can be attributed to Jameel Jaffer, executive director, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University

“We’re glad to see that these news organizations are suing. The president’s decision to bar them from the White House for the content of their reporting is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment. It’s an attack both on press freedom and the public’s right to independent information about the government. We will support these news organizations in court.”

The Knight Institute has supported the Associated Press in its challenge to its exclusion from the White House, filing three separate amicus briefs over a period of 18 months. The Institute has also supported The New York Times in its challenge to restrictions on access to the Pentagon. Earlier, the Institute successfully sued President Trump over his blocking of critics from his Twitter account, which the Institute argued was a “public forum” for First Amendment purposes.