The lawyer suing the Trump administration on behalf of CNN and Jim Acosta is a veteran Republican who successfully argued for former President George W. Bush before the Supreme Court in the Bush v. Gore case that decided the 2000 Florida recount.
Theodore Olson — known as Ted — was widowed on 9/11 when his wife Barbara Olson, a conservative columnist and author, was killed on board American Airlines Flight 77 as it crashed into the Pentagon after being hijacked by al Qaeda terrorists. He had spoken to her minutes earlier when she managed to phone him from the plane.
Olson, 78, later broke with social conservatives when he became a passionate advocate for same-sex marriage rights but was considered last year as a member of President Trump’s legal team before balking publicly, saying: “I think everybody would agree — this is turmoil, it’s chaos, it’s confusion, it’s not good for anything.”
He served as solicitor general under Bush from 2001 to 2004, having previously worked for the Justice Department during the Reagan administration. In 2010, he and prominent First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams argued for Citizens United in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which lifted restrictions on political advertising spending by corporations, unions, and individuals.
The seasoned litigator then collaborated with David Boies, his opposing counsel in Bush v. Gore, to help two same-sex couples via Hollingsworth v. Perry in their effort to overturn California’s Proposition 8 banning gay marriage in 2013.
Olson, Ted Boutrous, and Anne Champion — all from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP — filed documents in Washington’s federal district court Tuesday that outlined their case against Trump, senior aides, and Secret Service personnel after Acosta’s “hard press pass” was suspended last week.
The decision followed a heated press conference exchange between Trump and Acosta, during which a White House intern tried to wrestle the microphone from the journalist to prevent him from asking another question. Acosta has denied “placing his hands” on the young woman as administration officials claim, while White House press secretary Sarah Sanders has been accused of sharing an altered video of the encounter to make it seem more intense.
“The Supreme Court has held in no uncertain terms that the First Amendment protects ‘robust political debate,’ including ‘speech that is critical of those who hold public office,'” Olson wrote in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “Mr. Acosta’s press credentials must be restored so that all members of the press know they will remain free to ask tough questions, challenge government officials, and report the business of the nation to the American people.”
CNN’s suit Tuesday comes after Olson’s former co-counsel Abrams predicted CNN would have a compelling case. “I think it’s a really strong lawsuit,” Abrams said Sunday on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” while discussing a hypothetical case. “I think they should sue. And if it’s not about Acosta, this is going to happen again. … So whether it’s CNN suing or the next company suing, someone’s going to have to bring a lawsuit, and whoever does is going to win unless there’s some sort of reason,” he added.
[More: Bob Woodward trashes CNN’s lawsuit: We’re taking Trump’s ‘bait’]
Sanders, on behalf of the White House, slammed CNN Tuesday, saying the suit was “just more grandstanding” from the network. “CNN, who has nearly 50 additional hard pass holders, and Mr. Acosta is no more or less special than any other media outlet or reporter with respect to the First Amendment,” she said. “The First Amendment is not served when a single reporter, of more than 150 present, attempts to monopolize the floor. If there is no check on this type of behavior it impedes the ability of the President, the White House staff, and members of the media to conduct business.
