Spicer: White House ‘looking into’ libel laws
WASHINGTON — The White House is “looking into” ways to potentially change the nation’s libel laws to make it easier to go after reporters whose stories they deem inaccurate.
That’s according to President Trump’s chief spokesman Sean Spicer who told reporters during a Monday briefing that: “that is something that is being looked into, substantively and then both logistically how it would happen.”
Trump had pledged during his campaign to “open up” the nation’s libel laws — a process that could not be accomplished by the White House. That would require a constitutional amendment or a reversal of Supreme Court precedent interpreting the First Amendment.
White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus told ABC on Sunday that the issue has been discussed — but cautioned that “how that gets executed or whether that goes anywhere is a different story.”