(The Center Square) – A victory for press freedom was announced Thursday morning in a case over reporters being denied credentials to cover the Washington legislature.
Under the settlement agreement, the Washington State Capitol Correspondents Association (CCA) has agreed to stop making recommendations to the Washington House regarding press credential applications in addition to several other concessions.
“At its core, this case asked a fundamental question. Who gets to decide who is a journalist or a reporter? What role should the government or other reporters have in making that determination,” said Jackson Maynard, executive director of Citizen Action Defense Fund, which represented the plaintiffs Ari Hoffman, Jonathan Choe and Brandi Kruse, in a lawsuit over press credential access.
“This case is not about ideology. If a system can be used against these three reporters, it could be used against other reporters and journalists for entirely different viewpoints,” Maynard said in a Thursday news conference outside the United States Courthouse, Court of Appeals on 5th Avenue in Seattle.
The settlement announcement came shortly after the case entered discovery, which is the legal phase where plaintiffs and defendants exchange relevant evidence, witness information, and facts, aimed at making sure everyone knows what the core issues are before a potential trial begins.
“The other side had approached us about settling shortly after we began discovery, and the plaintiffs were at the beginning of the process of seeking and reviewing some very enlightening records and answers concerning the CCA’s recommendation regarding press applications and its communications to the House,” Maynard said.
Brandi Kruse, host of the unDivided podcast and plaintiff in the case, said the settlement with CCA was not a complete victory.
“Today is not a win for press freedom…not yet,” she said. “Because now the gate keepers are the government. More specifically, a single political party that now controls who gets a press pass and who doesn’t. Today, it is critical that the entire press corps come together to realize one indisputable fact. That allowing the government to decide who is media and who is not is a dangerous thing.”
Hoffman said it was telling that none of the mainstream media outlets who pushed against allowing his press access attended Thursday’s press event announcing the settlement.
“I notice none of them bothered to show up today,” he said. “Behind the scenes, they researched our political activity, searched PDC and IRS records, reviewed our social media, discussed our employers, and even talked about how much money we earned and where it came from.
“They weren’t just checking on whether we worked as journalists, they were investigating us because they didn’t like us,” he added.
Hoffman said the press is called the fourth estate because it acts as a powerful, independent watchdog that monitors the government.
“Journalists are supposed to serve as an independent check on government power,” he added. “Our job isn’t to protect government officials from uncomfortable questions or preserve our own access by keeping other journalists out. Our job is to hold the government accountable.”
Hoffman said Jerry Cornfield, president of the Capitol Correspondents Association, who is also deputy editor at the Washington State Standard, crossed the line in advocating against giving credentials to Hoffman, Choe and Kruse.
“These reporters were working with the government to prevent us from doing exactly that, and they continued even after the CCA claimed it was getting out of the business of issuing press credentials,” Hoffman said.
In 2025, The Center Square brought the press credential issue to the forefront, appealing to get credentialed and escorting Choe into the Senate wings on the day he picked up his credentials.
Choe was ultimately denied access in a video that went viral, bringing attention to the credentialing issue.
“I’m at a point now where it’s worth sacrificing everything to protect my First Amendment rights,” said Choe, who is with Discovery Institute. “I’m going to continue to fight, whatever it takes.
“In many ways through this fight we’ve become an extension of all the people out there who are afraid to speak up or are afraid to speak up or can’t speak up because they don’t have a platform, and we are fighting on their behalf now,” he added. “This settlement affirms what our association has said from the beginning: the House determines access to its chamber. This has been true for years. It is still true. It will continue to be true.”
Cornfield emailed The Center Square a statement, saying the corresopndents association is not longer involved in the controversy.
“CADF’s case against CCA is settled, but the case against the Washington State House of Representatives, Chief Clerk Bernard Dean and the Legislature will continue,” Cornfield wrote.