AP journalists testify over WH ban for refusal to use 'Gulf of America' name

Two Associated Press journalists testified Thursday the Trump administration's ban on its reporters and photographers is an attack on freedom of speech and should be overturned

White House correspondent Zeke Miller and chief photographer Evan Vucci spoke on the stand before U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, describing how the ban has severely hampered their coverage

Last month, the AP sued White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt and two other administration officials

demanding reinstatement after they were banned from the Oval Office and Air Force One over the organization's refusal to use Gulf of America in its style book

McFadden, who was appointed by President Trump, previously denied a temporary restraining order which would have frozen the ban

However, he said the ban was likely unconstitutional and suggested the White House change it

The AP's lawyer argued the White House had instead doubled down since McFadden's decision in fact

February. Adding, the AP spent 44 days in the penalty box, we hope to remove this unconstitutional

hurdle to get the AP access to the press poll again. Vucci testified the administration's

decision to ban the AP negatively impacted its coverage of the meeting between President

Trump Vice President J Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying the organization had to rely on one of its foreign photographers to capture visuals of the event

Adding, that was one of the wildest things to ever happen in the Oval Office, and we just didn't have it

Vucci has worked as an AP photographer since 2003, taking several iconic photos, such as an Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at former President George W. Bush

and Trump raising his fist following a failed assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania

Miller says he noticed an apparent softening of tone and tenor in the questions posed to the president

since the AP has been banned. He pointed to the recent coverage of the Space X mission to retrieve the stranded astronauts

from the International Space Station. When they landed in the Gulf of Mexico, he said several outlets only referred to it as the Gulf

McFadden said Miller's example may not be enough to show that the wider media had been impacted by the AP's ban

and instructed the AP not to file a declaration providing specifics from certain outlets coverage that day

He explained any more factual filings would further delay his eventual ruling

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kara Rucker. For all your latest news headlines, download the Straight Arrow News mobile app today