Expulsion of press from public proceedings
Public proceedings — White House briefings, agency press conferences, court hearings, legislative committee meetings — are presumptively open to the credentialed press. Expulsion of specific journalists or outlets from these proceedings, on the basis of their coverage, is a form of access control deployed to chastise. Concrete forms include credentials revoked without cause, individual reporters barred from briefings while peers are admitted, and broad outlet-level expulsions framed as "security" or "space" decisions. Legitimate credentialing standards applied evenly are not expulsion; expulsion is what happens when the standards bend around the coverage.
2026 Events (2)
Louisiana judge closed courtroom for AG Murrill's grand jury indictment; deputies handcuffed objecting reporter and attorney
On July 2, 2026, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Leon Roche closed his courtroom to press and public for the grand jury's return of an indictment against Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, without stating a reason. When WWL-TV reporter Danny Monteverde and First Amendment attorney Elana Beiser objected to the closure, Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office deputies handcuffed both of them for roughly 20 minutes.
Rep. Omar's silent State of the Union guest forcibly removed, injured, and charged
During President Trump's State of the Union address on February 24, 2026, Aliya Rahman — a Minneapolis software engineer attending as Rep. Ilhan Omar's invited guest — stood silently in the House gallery and was forcibly removed by U.S. Capitol Police after declining to sit. Rahman, who had disclosed injured shoulders and is autistic with a traumatic brain injury, was aggressively handled, required treatment at George Washington University Hospital, and was booked and charged with "Unlawful Conduct," a misdemeanor carrying up to six months. Rep. Omar condemned the response as a heavy-handed, chilling reaction to peaceful expression and demanded a full explanation.
2025 Events (1)
White House press secretary Leavitt removed Wall Street Journal from Scotland trip press pool over Epstein reporting
On July 21, 2025, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt removed the Wall Street Journal from the 13-outlet press pool set to cover President Trump's trip to Scotland, saying the change was made "due to the Wall Street Journal's fake and defamatory conduct" — a reference to the paper's July 17 report on a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein that Trump denied writing. The White House Correspondents' Association called the removal retaliatory and a First Amendment concern.