‘Pray for Me’: Outspoken African Journalist Pursues Legal Action Against White House Correspondent’s Association
African journalist Simon Ateba, who covers the White House for Today News Africa, has consistently pushed back against Biden press secretaries Jen Psaki and Karine Jean-Pierre.
In May of 2022, Ateba learned the price one pays for daring to try to get actual answers from the Biden administration and he was threatened with expulsion from the White House Correspondents Association. They have now made good on their threat.
On Saturday, Ateba announced he will sue the group for making false claims against him and not adhering to their own guidelines.
“I will fight like hell because as they sit in the briefing room collecting salaries, they don’t know there are people like me who build companies from scratch. Pray for me,” he wrote.
I have decided to take legal action against the White House Correspondents Association @whca since they made false claims against me and my company and did not abide by their own membership guidelines. From now on, I will let my lawyer talk about the case but I will fight like… https://t.co/cWrbFjMr7Z pic.twitter.com/sEnzaKDHh3
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) March 4, 2023
Simon Ateba is not the first reporter to be treated poorly by the White House Press Association clique. The organization prides itself on its leftist bent and coordinated attacks.
In 2017 The Gateway Pundit reporter Lucian Wintrich was bullied and accosted in the White House press room.
Lucian Wintrich: I Was Assaulted in White House Press Room – Here Is My Report
So this abuse against Simon Ateba does not come as a surprise to The Gateway Pundit.
Ateba shared:
Today is a dark day for freedom of the press in the United States of America. The forces of evil who felt belittled have removed me from the White House Correspondents Association. The removal had the approval of one journalist called @tamarakeithNPR who is WHCA President and works for NPR funded by donors and taxpayers. They claimed that I do not have money and cannot be a member of WHCA. They also lied in their letter and did not follow their own membership guidelines. May God forgive them.
They wrote, “Dear Simon, Thank you for reaching out. The committee had been waiting to consider your application based on our prior conversations, when you had indicated interest in applying for a different membership level.
“At that time, the committee requested additional information, including a letter from your supervisor confirming your paid employment and specific job duties.
Despite outlining those requirements both in person and in email on more than one occasion, you did not provide the committee with any additional information until this week asking us to evaluate your original application. We did so promptly.
However, I regret to inform you that your application for membership has been declined.
Your application was carefully reviewed by a committee of journalists looking at your listed news organization and your assignment based on all of the information you provided and any other information they found available.
Among other concerns, they did not see evidence that you are “employed on the editorial staff of a newspaper, periodical, wire service, radio, TV, or other news-gathering organization that reports on the White House” as required by our by-laws. You have tweeted publicly that you do not receive a salary, and declined opportunities to provide information about your employment status.
This is a requirement of all members of the association. Additionally, the committee noted repeated instances where your behavior violated the expectations for membership outlined in our bylaws, which have been detailed to you previously.
I will refund your dues payment. At the same time, I am adding you to our email list used to convey important health and safety information to the White House press corps.
Sincerely,
Steven Thomma Executive Director, White House Correspondents’ Association
600 New Hampshire Ave. NW
Washington DC 20037-2403 Web: whca.press
Today is a dark day for freedom of the press in the United States of America. The forces of evil who felt belittled have removed me from the White House Correspondents Association. The removal had the approval of one journalist called @tamarakeithNPR who https://t.co/ku6YlLJ9km… https://t.co/6sCa9iKgeT pic.twitter.com/2grSfnbwh2
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) March 4, 2023
The post ‘Pray for Me’: Outspoken African Journalist Pursues Legal Action Against White House Correspondent’s Association appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.