EPA blocks some media from summit, then reverses course
NEW YORK — A reporter for The Associated Press was grabbed by the shoulders and shoved out of an Environmental Protection Agency building by a security guard Tuesday for trying to cover a meeting on water contaminants in which some reporters were welcomed and others were not.
An aide to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt later called to apologize to AP reporter Ellen Knickmeyer and said the incident is being looked into. Knickmeyer, who said she was not hurt, was later let into the meeting when the EPA reversed course and opened it to all reporters.
Representatives from CNN and E&E News, which covers energy and environment issues, were also initially barred from the meeting.
Even for an administration with a contentious relationship with the press and a president who has put the phrase “fake news” into the lexicon, Tuesday’s events were unusual.