White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has been accused of sharing a “doctored” video of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s interaction with a White House intern that resulted in the reporter’s press pass being revoked.

Acosta’s press pass to access the White House was suspended “until further notice” Wednesday, hours after he engaged in a contentious back-and-forth with President Trump. A White House intern attempted to retrieve the microphone from Acosta, but the CNN reporter resisted and asked an additional question – and that’s where things get cloudy.

Sanders said the suspension of his press credentials stemmed from his “placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern.” She called the behavior “absolutely unacceptable.”

But many high-profile media members, including The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman and CNN executive Matt Dornic, have accused Sanders of using a doctored video speeding up Acosta’s arm motion, as evidence.

“We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video,” Sanders tweeted to accompany the allegedly doctored video.

“Yes, the White House press office is sharing a manipulated video that makes it appear that Acosta was menacing the intern when he was not and did not. The intern reached over Acosta to grab the microphone while he was trying to ask another q and Acosta tried to pull away,” Haberman wrote.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Several media members have accused Sanders of using an edited video circulated by Infowars editor Paul Joseph Watson. Infowars is known for spreading conspiracy theories and is banned from most social media platforms, but Watson has managed to keep his Twitter account.

The video allegedly speeds up Acosta’s arm motion to make it appear that he essentially karate chopped the female intern – but Watson has taken to Twitter to defend himself.

“The only editing done to this clip is that it is zoomed in,” Watson wrote.

Fox News has not yet confirmed whether or not the video is actually doctored, or simply zooms in on the incident. NBC News tweeted its own video of the encounter.

“The edited video looks authentic: Acosta appeared to swiftly chop down on the arm of an aide as he held onto a microphone while questioning President Trump. But in the original video, Acosta’s arm appears to move only as a response to a tussle for the microphone. His statement, ‘Pardon me, ma’am,’ is not included in the video Sanders shared,” Washington Post technology reporter Drew Harwell wrote.

“I’ve just been denied entrance to the WH,” Acosta tweeted Wednesday night. “Secret Service just informed me I cannot enter the WH grounds for my 8pm hit.”

Sanders confirmed Acosta’s claim and the White House Correspondents’ Association – of which Fox News is a member — quickly released its own statement condemning the decision to revoke Acosta’s credential.

“We urge the White House to immediately reverse this week and misguided action,” the WHCA wrote. We encourage anyone with doubts that this reaction was disproportionate to the perceived offense to view the video of events.”

It all started when CNN’s Acosta got into a heated debate with Trump after he asked the president about the migrant caravan.

“Honestly, I think you should let me run the country and you run CNN,” the president said, resulting in the intern attempting to retrieve the microphone.

CNN said Wednesday night that Acosta’s suspension “was done in retaliation for his challenging questions at today’s press conference” and claimed Sanders “lied” in her explanation of what unraveled.

“This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better. Jim Acosta has our full support,” CNN said. </s> Donald Trump was involved in an angry exchange with Jim Acosta

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been accused of sharing a video doctored to make a journalist appear more aggressive.

The clip shows the moment CNN reporter Jim Acosta refused to hand over a microphone to an intern during a heated exchange with US President Donald Trump.

The White House has since banned Mr Acosta over what it called "unacceptable" conduct.

We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video. pic.twitter.com/T8X1Ng912y — Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) November 8, 2018

Ms Sanders took aim at the CNN correspondent after accusing him of "placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern".

Ms Sanders went on to share a clip that appears identical to one published by cable network C-SPAN, writing: "We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behaviour clearly documented in this video."

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But Storyful, a social media intelligence agency that specialises in video, say its analysis shows the clip "contains extra frames that do not appear in the C-SPAN broadcast of the event".

Its report claims the video has several frames repeated.

It says: "These frames do not appear in the original C-SPAN footage, and appear to exaggerate the action of Acosta.

"There is a clear moment (frames 13, 14, 15 in our first clip, where C-SPAN version is on the left) when the Sanders video halts and the C-SPAN footage does not.

"The two clips, which were roughly in sync before that moment, are out of sync thereafter," Storyful said.

Many in the media industry were furious with Ms Sanders for sharing the video, including one of Mr Acosta's colleagues.

Matt Dornic, a vice-president at CNN, said: "Absolutely shameful, @PressSec. You released a doctored video - actual fake news. History will not be kind to you."

The Storyful report also says: "The video shared by Sanders appeared under an hour after the same video, with the same close-up, was posted by Infowars.com contributor Paul Joseph Watson."

Infowars.com is a controversial far-right site described by many as a publisher of conspiracy theories and fake news.

The same three still frames are repeated in the zoomed-in clips of the incident in the Sanders video, its report adds.

Mr Watson posted his defence on Twitter, saying: "Here's the video that proves I did not 'doctor' or 'speed up' the Acosta video, as some media outlets claim. I merely zoomed in.

Here's the video that proves I did not "doctor" or "speed up" the Acosta video, as some media outlets claim. I merely zoomed in.



Nice try to distract from Acosta's behavior, but this kind of dishonesty is why the media has a massive trust issue.



Please correct your stories. pic.twitter.com/g0AzlEyVx0 — Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) November 8, 2018

"Nice try to distract from Acosta's behavior, but this kind of dishonesty is why the media has a massive trust issue. </s> The White House promoted an edited video on Wednesday to justify revoking Jim Acosta's press badge following the CNN reporter's questioning of President Donald Trump earlier that day. The video was earlier shared by the editor of InfoWars, whose founder has pushed conspiracy theories that the the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting never occurred.

The video was tweeted Wednesday night by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, who claimed Acosta's "inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video."

The video from Sanders' tweet purports to show a moment from a Wednesday exchange between Acosta and Trump, in which Acosta persisted in asking the president about the ongoing Russia investigation amid Trump's repeated refusals to answer.

More: CNN's Jim Acosta has White House press badge revoked after Trump called him 'terrible'

More: President Trump calls media 'hostile,' says of CNN reporter Jim Acosta: 'You are a rude, terrible person'

In footage of the incident earlier published by NBC and others, a White House intern attempts to take the microphone out of Acosta's right hand, during which Acosta lowers his left hand to block the woman while apologizing, "Pardon me, ma'am."

But in the video posted by Sanders, the moment of Acosta's arm movement is sped up, making his apparent block appear more aggressive —– a fact noted by many respondents to Sanders' tweet.

Within hours, videos comparing earlier footage and the video from Sanders' tweet showed a discrepancy when those moments of the White House-released video failed to match up to original footage.

"The clip being shared by the WH Press Secretary and Infowars has been slowed down then sped up to create the illusion of a karate chop," said Aymann Ismail, a video producer for Slate, in a series of tweets, adding that the "the intern's reach for the mic is slowed down, and the 'chop' motion is accelerated.

Paul Joseph Watson, the InfoWars editor who shared the video before Sanders did, later argued that he did not "speed up" the video but "merely zoomed in."

Media from InfoWars has previously been banned from Apple, Facebook, YouTube and Spotify after being classified as hate speech.

Despite Watson's claim, an in-depth analysis of the footage from Tom Richell, a video producer at The Independent, reports the precise frames where the video was edited.

"We know the video has been edited in some way," he said. "There's a very slight pause ... Who made that edit, though, and for what reason — that's what we don't know." </s> In a video tweeted by White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, CNN White House corespondent Jim Acosta appeared to push, or possibly hit, a White House intern when she tried to take the microphone from him during a tense exchange with President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

Later that day, Acosta's press credentials were suspended. In a different tweet, Sanders explained why: "We will, however, never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern..."

After Sanders shared the video and explanation, some claimed her video was "doctored" and showed a different version of what really happened.

You can watch the video Sanders shared here:

Self-proclaimed editing experts took Sanders' video and compared it to C-SPAN's recording of the interaction.

Those accusing Sanders of sharing a doctored video claimed that the edits increase the speed at which Acosta appears to touch the intern and make "Acosta's motion look like a chop."

Was the video posted by press secretary Sanders different than the C-SPAN version? If so, was it doctored to appear that way?

We can VERIFY without a doubt that the video posted by Sanders is different than the recording from C-SPAN and other outlets. There are freeze frames and accelerated motion that don't appear in other videos.

But, that does not necessarily mean the video was doctored or edited to have those effects.

VERIFY ran our own version of the tests mentioned in social posts above.

We identified two-to-three frozen frames and what appeared to be accelerated motion in the clip right around the point when Acosta and the intern touched arms.

When you line up the C-SPAN video and Sanders' version side-by-side, or even overlay them, there's no doubt the the clips are slightly different.

But that is not definitive proof the clip was doctored. As a few individuals pointed out, the discrepancies could also be due to video compression or the dropping of a few frames when formats were changed.

The video Sanders posted is identical to a video posted by Paul Joseph Watson, an InfoWars editor. He claimed he made the video by taking a .gif and converting it into a video format. You can see his Twitter defense by clicking here.

We created our own test to show how converting .gif files to video and back can create degradation in the overall video and often leads to motions that appear quicker or slower.

To see this in video format, watch the attached video above.

The video from Sanders is different. That’s Verified.

But claiming that it was done on purpose is unverifiable. You’d have to witness someone editing the video to be certain it happened.

There are other explanations, including video degradation and frame drops, that could explain how this happened. </s> Video from the press conference shows an intern attempting to take the microphone from Acosta, who says, "Pardon me, ma'am," after briefly making contact with her arm. Acosta then continues to ask a question about the Russia investigation, which Trump doesn't answer.

The White House on Wednesday said it is suspending access to CNN's chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta after he refused to give up the microphone while asking a question about the Russia investigation at a news conference.

BREAKING: White House aide grabs and tries to physically remove a microphone from CNN Correspondent Jim Acosta during a contentious exchange with President Trump at a news conference. https://t.co/fFm7wclFw2

In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the decision to revoke Acosta's credentials was made because of his "placing hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern."

Sanders also defended the Trump administration's support of a free press, adding, "President Trump has given the press more access than any president in history."

On Twitter, Acosta said Sanders's description of what happened was a lie.

Acosta leads CNN's coverage of the president, and over the last two years, he's become known for his persistent questions and testy interactions with Trump and his press staff. But his questions have at times prompted Trump to account for his administration's actions.

Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly said Acosta and CNN are "fake news," and on Wednesday, he further singled the reporter out as an "enemy of the people."

“CNN should be ashamed of itself, having you working for them,” Trump said. “You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN.”

Acosta isn't the only CNN reporter to face the White House's ire. Reporter Kaitlan Collins was banned from an open press event this summer after asking what White House staff deemed to be “inappropriate” questions of Trump earlier in the day. She had shouted questions about the audio recording of Trump discussing paying former Playboy model Karen McDougal during a media scrum in the Oval Office the European Commission’s president.

And last year, CNN was among several news organizations banned by then-press secretary Sean Spicer. </s> MIAMI (CBSMiami) — CBS News has joined the fight against the White House for revoking a CNN reporter’s media pass.

Jim Acosta’s “hard pass,” which gives holders expanded access to the White House complex, was suspended last week, hours after he sparred with President Trump in press conference.

CNN took its access battle against the Trump administration to court on Tuesday, demanding the reinstatement of Acosta’s White House credentials because their revocation violates the right of freedom of the press.

CBS News announced it will file an amicus brief in support of CNN, saying in a statement it supports the White House Correspondents Association and CNN’s legal fight to restore Acosta’s access.

“We do not believe that revoking White House press credentials is an appropriate remedy for a disagreement the White House may have with a particular reporter,” CBS News’ statement said. “We intend to file a friend of the court brief in support of CNN’s lawsuit to defend its constitutional rights.”

Fox News also filed a ‘friend of the court’ brief in federal court in support of CNN’s lawsuit against the Trump administration saying Secret Service passes for working White House journalists “should never be weaponized. While we don’t condone the growing antagonistic tone by both the President and the press at recent media avails, we do support a free press, access and open exchanges for the American people.”

WATCH THE ENTIRE EXCHANGE BETWEEN JIM ACOSTA AND PRESIDENT TRUMP

President Trump’s administration contends it has “broad discretion” to regulate press access to the White House and said it “was lawful” to punish Acosta for his behavior.

CNN says it has asked the court for an immediate restraining order requiring the pass be returned to Acosta and will seek permanent relief as part of this process. The White House Correspondents Association has said that it “strongly supports” the suit.

Acosta’s access to the White House was purportedly suspended because he refused to give up a microphone to a White House intern who reached over and tried to take it away from him during the press conference. The White House accused Acosta of placing his hands on the young woman and distributed a video of the incident that several analysts concluded was doctored and had the effect of exaggerating the moment of contact.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders called the lawsuit “just more grandstanding from CNN.” Although the White House initially said it was revoking Acosta’s hard pass because he laid hands on an intern, Sanders’ new statement said he “physically refused to surrender a White House microphone to an intern.” Sanders also said that the new justification for the removal of his pass was that he did not yield to other reporters for questions.

Other news organizations also joining the fight against the White House include NBC News, the New York Times, the Washington Post and two wire services – AP and Bloomberg, among others. </s> A group of CNN’s competitors, including Fox News, joined together to support CNN and Jim Acosta in their lawsuit against the White House seeking to regain Acosta’s press access there.

Fox News President Jay Wallace said in a statement that while the network doesn’t “condone the growing antagonistic tone by both the President and the press,” it does, however, “support a free press, access and open exchanges for the American people.” Wallace also said Fox would file a brief in support of CNN’s suit in federal court in Washington.

Despite rumblings that some of Acosta’s fellow reporters did not particularly like or appreciate his confrontational made-for-TV approach to dealing with the president during press conferences and media availabilities, a broad swath of media organizations have stood behind Acosta and CNN to oppose the nearly unprecedented revoking of access based plainly on the fact that the White House didn’t like a reporter.

The White House, meanwhile, argued in a brief that its sanctions for Acosta were “viewpoint- and content-neutral” and “are evident from the video of the November 7 press conference.” The White House had initially claimed that it had banned Acosta because he had placed “his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern.”

When this explanation was almost universally rejected (despite an altered video shared by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders), the White House said in a subsequent statement Tuesday that Acosta “inappropriately refused to yield to other reporters” and had “physically refused to surrender a White House microphone to an intern, so that other reporters might ask their questions.”

While Trump’s base of support has continued to be riled up in anger against CNN, the media has not taken the bait. Everyone from the news-wire services to the owner of the Intercept signed on to a joint statement in support of CNN, saying, “Our news organizations support the fundamental constitutional right to question this President, or any president.” </s> WASHINGTON — The Latest on the legal challenge to the White House’s decision to strip CNN reporter Jim Acosta of his White House press credentials (all times local):

A federal judge has delayed until Friday a ruling on whether the Trump administration has to return the White House press credentials of CNN reporter Jim Acosta.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly isn’t offering any explanation for delaying a ruling that had been expected Thursday afternoon. He’s set a court date for 10 a.m. Friday.

Kelly is a Trump appointee who heard arguments Wednesday from lawyers representing CNN and the Justice Department.

The news network is seeking an immediate restraining order that would force the White House to hand back Acosta’s credentials, which grant reporters as-needed access to the 18-acre complex.

Acosta has clashed repeatedly with Trump and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in briefings over the last two years. The White House revoked the pass following a combative press conference last week, a day after Republicans lost control of the House in midterm elections.

The Justice Department is defending the White House’s decision to strip CNN reporter Jim Acosta of his press pass. The department is arguing that Acosta is guilty of “inappropriate grandstanding.”

The White House took the action after a heated confrontation between Acosta and President Donald Trump during a news conference last week.

In a court hearing Wednesday, Justice Department lawyer James Burnham argued that Acosta deserved to lose his access over “his refusal to comply with the general standards of a press conference.”

CNN is seeking a restraining order that would force the White House to return Acosta’s press credentials. The network’s lawyer, Theodore Boutrous, said Acosta is being singled out for his body of work, not his alleged rudeness. </s> The White House on Monday said that CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s press pass has been restored after the network filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration, CNN reported. On Friday, a federal judge ordered the White House to reinstate Acosta’s press pass.

“Today the White House fully restored Jim Acosta’s press pass,” CNN said in a statement. “As a result, our lawsuit is no longer necessary. We look forward to continuing to cover the White House.”

In a letter to Acosta, the White House said it is also establishing new rules for conduct at presidential press conferences. The rules include limiting each reporter to a single question, with follow-up questions permitted “at the discretion of the President or other White House officials”, USA Today reported quoting the letter.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in a statement said failing to follow the new rules could lead to reporters losing their press passes. “We have created these rules with a degree of regret,” she said. “We would have greatly preferred to continue hosting White House press conferences in reliance on a set of understood professional norms, and we believe the overwhelming majority of journalists covering the White House share that preference. But, given the position taken by CNN, we now feel obligated to replace previously shared practices with explicit rules.”

On November 7, the White House revoked the press pass issued to Acosta “until further notice”. The incident followed an interaction between President Donald Trump and Acosta, in which Trump called the reporter a “rude and terrible person” after he asked him several questions during a post midterm election press conference.

CNN filed a lawsuit on November 13, accusing the Trump administration of violating the First and Fifth Amendment rights of Acosta and CNN. The First Amendment protects free speech while the Fifth Amendment mandates due process of law and prohibits self-incrimination and double jeopardy.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders receives widespread condemnation after allegedly tweeting an altered video from a press conference the day before. The video, which was allegedly doctored by the far-right conspiracy website InfoWars, is claimed to falsely depict CNN's White House correspondent Jim Acosta physically assaulting an intern.