The White House Banned Politico Over an Anonymous Quote. The Post Found It Came From the White House.

Imagine a landlord kicking you out for playing loud music. Then someone checks, and the music was coming from the landlord's own flat.

On September 18, President Trump banned reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. The White House letter said Politico broke professional standards, "including by using anonymous sources."

So the Washington Post's Scott Nover took one of those anonymous quotes and followed it home. A "senior administration official" had put the odds of an Iran deal at "probably more like 80, 85 percent." Where did that come from? A briefing call the White House itself set up. On that call, reporters were told to quote the speaker as "a senior administration official."

So Politico did exactly what it was told. The Post also found that AP, Bloomberg and CNBC quoted the same call the same way. Nobody banned them. The White House didn't comment.

The Post's headline says it with a straight face: "The White House banned Politico, citing anonymous sources. It provided the quotes." No shouting. No capital letters. Just the receipt, pinned to the wall.

Why care about a fight over press passes? Because the reporters in that room ask the questions you'd ask if you could get in. The Post didn't just report the ban. It checked the reason, and in our view the reason had a hole in it.

Early on September 24, a judge ordered the passes restored, saying they were likely taken away without fair process. The reporters were kept at the gate for hours, then let in. The bigger free-speech fight isn't over.

One honest footnote: the Post didn't name the official. A smaller media newsletter reported that later. But the first crack in the White House's story was the Post's. Good journalism deserves a round of applause, even from us.