USD Magazine Summer 2019

to be back in court on Monday.” The White House subsequently issued another missive, stating the pass would be permanently restored but new behavior stan- dards for news conferences would be forthcoming. Critics, including Washington Post associ- ate editor Bob Woodward — whose reporting was fundamen- tal to revealing the Watergate scandal to the world — opined the suit was a bad idea, saying it played into the president’s strate- gy of demonizing journalism. In his Los Angeles office, Dodg- er Stadium visible in the distance over his right shoulder, the Holly- wood sign at a glance to the north, Boutrous saw the suit as not just a victory for Acosta and CNN but for the Constitution and the American political system. “The president of the United States tried to control who can cover him and how,” he says. “The presidency is not Donald Trump or Barack Obama or George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. It is an office that belongs to the people of the United States. We set an important precedent and now the White House knows it can’t try to suppress the freedom of the press.”

House on our behalf.” Judge Kelly’s decision came quickly. But for Boutrous and his team, it seemed like forever. “We got word the ruling would be handed down at 3 p.m. the next day,” Boutrous recalls. “Then it was moved to 10 a.m. on Friday. We were confi- dent that we would prevail, but you just never know. We were sitting with Jim Acosta on pins and needles, waiting. Finally, we got it: He ordered the hard pass restored. Acosta immediately went to the White House and within the hour had his pass back. Rarely in litigation do you have such instant gratification, get a prize for the win.” Boutrous headed back to Los Angeles “in a very good mood.” But by the time his plane landed, Acosta and his attorneys had received communication from the White House acknowledging the judge’s ruling and giving notice that Acosta’s hard pass would indeed be revoked, detail- ing the reasons why. “We were given until Sunday to respond, which we just thought was outrageous,” Boutrous recalls. “But we launched back into devel- oping a response. We geared up

CNNWhite House correspondent Jim Acosta speaks to the media after arriving at theWhite House after Judge Timothy Kelly ordered theWhite House to reinstate Acosta’s press credentials.

was the following week.” Boutrous quickly assembled teams from various offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where he serves as partner and co-chair of the firm’s Litigation Group. “We had a briefs writing team; we had a factual team doing complaints and declarations, and we put together a whole case in three or four days,” he says. “We were ready to go the distance if we had to.” The CNN suit asked that Acos- ta’s hard pass be immediately restored and refrain from further discrimination based on his reporting. The hearing was sched- uled for Nov. 14 — exactly one week after the news conference. On the evening of Nov. 13, Boutrous practiced the same rou- tine as he did arguing landmark cases before the Supreme Court, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. v. Dukes , that set important prece- dent governing class action suits, and Hollingsworth v. Perry , that invalidated California’s Proposi- tion 8 prohibiting same-sex mar- riage. The USD School of Law grad likens his preparation pro- cess to being in law school again. “I’m big on Q&As and one- pagers that put the key arguments

in bite-sized pieces, and do an outline of key points,” he says, adding that he sometimes rehearses before a mirror. “It’s a lot like being in law school, really. You’ve got the cases in a compressed time period and you don’t know what the ques- tions are going to be. You have to know the material inside and out and be able to then organize it on your feet, based on whatever questions you get.” Boutrous and three Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher attorneys appeared for the plaintiffs before D.C. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly, opposite four Justice Department lawyers. Speaking for the plaintiffs, Boutrous cited the Sherrill case, which required the White House to demonstrate a clear and consistent process and a mechanism to appeal for revoking any reporter’s credentials. “I said [the White House ratio- nale for taking the pass] was a warped view of journalism and the First Amendment, because they really didn’t seem to respect the fact that the public owns the White House. The president works for the people and the press is there to keep an eye on the president and the White

CNN attorney Ted Boutrous ‘87 (JD) at right, with CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta, speaking outside U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on November 16, 2018.

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