Reports of a planned crackdown on media access to the upcoming Senate impeachment trial of President Trump is drawing fierce criticism from members of the press.
The Standing Committee of Correspondents, a group of reporters who represent and advocate for credentialed media in the Senate daily press gallery, sent a forceful letter Tuesday to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), decrying the possible restrictions.
The restrictions, which the committee said potentially include confining reporters to a single press pen on the second floor of the Senate, threaten to curtail reporters’ access to senators during a historic impeachment trial.
On a normal day, reporters are free to try to talk with senators outside the Senate chamber, in the basement, or in the hallways of the Capitol.
“Capitol Hill is one of the most accessible places in Washington, but the proposed restrictions exceed those put in place during the State of the Union, Inauguration Day, or even during the Clinton impeachment trial 20 years ago,” the Committee wrote.
They sent a separate, identical letter to Senate Rules Chairman Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and ranking member Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who is also running for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The gallery committee said they had tried to work with the Rules Committee and the Senate’s Sergeant-at-Arms, but every suggestion they made was rejected “without an explanation of how the restrictions contribute to safety rather than simply limit coverage of the trial.”
“These potential restrictions fail to acknowledge what currently works on Capitol Hill, or the way the American public expects to be able to follow a vital news event about their government in the digital age,” the letter said.
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<p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Senate restrictions on impeachment press coverage draw fierce backlash https://t.co/KXew6YfSNR pic.twitter.com/hrbRnxr011</p>— The Hill (@thehill) January 14, 2020
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Let’s call BS on this. This is about GOP senators not wanting to face questions about what Trump did and having their non-answers show up on the news back home. https://t.co/gVV0O3b5Ku
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) January 14, 2020
GOP Sen. Kennedy on impeachment trial: “There’s an effort to limit the press. I’m going to vote against that if I’m allowed to vote. I think it’s a huge mistake. US senators are grown women and grown men. If they don’t want to make a comment, they know how to say no comment”
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) January 15, 2020
The Senate press restrictions have absolutely nothing to do with security, and represent a dark new moment in a season of dark outrages.
Forbidding audio recording serves absolutely no security purpose at all.
This is McConnell, serving Trump.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) January 15, 2020
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