(The Center Square) – The Citizen Action Defense Fund (CADF) is threatening legal action against the Washington State House of Representatives and the WA State Capitol Correspondents Association for denying talk show radio host Ari Hoffman press credentials.
“The right to gather news is not a privilege granted at the discretion of political bodies or private associations,” said CADF Executive Director Jackson Maynard wrote in a letter to House Laurie Jinkins, Chief Clerk Bernard Dean, and Capitol Correspondents Association representative Jerry Cornfield. “It is a core constitutional right. Denying a journalist access to the people’s House raises profound legal and civil rights concerns.”
For decades, press credentialing was overseen by the CCA, which last year handed that authority back over to the state Legislature. The Senate proceeded to bar reporters from the legislative wings unless invited. Press credentials give reporters access to areas of the Capitol Building where the general public is not allowed without the escort of a lawmaker or staff member.
Shortly after the Legislature regained control over press credentialing, independent journalist Jonathan Choe was denied entry into the Democratic Party’s media availability.
The Legislature has since created one-day credentials, which Hoffman applied for and was denied.
While CADF states in its press release that it is requesting all policies, communications, and decision-making materials related to the credentialing process, The Center Square obtained emails via a public records request showing that State Attorney General’s Office attorneys were in communication with the attorneys for the House and Senate respectively regarding press credentialing. A March 18 email sent from Assistant Attorney General Kelly Pardis to Assistant Attorney General William McGinty is titled “CCA guidelines,” with a document attached sharing the same title.
One draft of an April 21 email never sent had the subject line “Media credentialing project.”
It is unknown what was said in the emails or in that document, because most of them were redacted under attorney client privilege. The Center Square has sought clarification with the AGO Public Records Office on the relationship between the AGO and the state Legislature, since the House and Senate attorneys do not have AGO emails.
In a press release, CADF argued that “the House has failed to publish clear, objective standards governing press credentials and has instead delegated that authority to a private association whose criteria, processes, and even legal status are opaque. Federal courts have repeatedly held that such vague or unpublished standards violate both the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process guarantees.”
