White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has previously found herself in feuds with Simon Ateba, a White House reporter for Today News Africa.
Now, Jean-Pierre is reportedly facing a lawsuit from the reporter.
“I have decided to take legal action against the White House Correspondents Association [WHCA] since they made false claims against me and my company and did not abide by their own membership guidelines,” Ateba alleged on Twitter.
“I have also decided to take legal action against President Biden’s Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre for discrimination against me in the White House.”
Ateba also tweeted a letter allegedly from a WHCA executive writing to revoke membership.
Take a look —
I have also decided to take legal action against President Biden’s Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre for discrimination against me in the White House. My lawyer will be the one to also talk about this case here or when we appear on television to discuss the case. pic.twitter.com/PuRftasObx
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) March 4, 2023
In January, Jean-Pierre ignored Ateba’s concerns about President Joe Biden’s mishandled documents.
“Karine, since you don’t have anything else on classified documents, you don’t seem a good fit for this job,” Ateba told Jean-Pierre at the time, over crosstalk.
In August of last year, Jean-Pierre was heckled by two African reporters — including Ateba — while discussing the Biden administration’s investments on the continent. The other reporter shouted, “One question for Africa, Karine!”
Ateba has also feuded with Jean-Pierre’s predecessor, Jen Psaki.
During the omicron outbreak of 2021, Ateba struggled to make Psaki answer for the Biden administration’s travel ban on South Africa.
Take a look —
Reporter @simonateba tells WH press sec she's not fit for her job after she repeatedly fails to address Biden's classified doc debacle pic.twitter.com/scKHYsxTzw
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 24, 2023
Ateba hails from Cameroon, and he long worked at smaller outlets, like the Nigerian magazine TheNEWS.
He directed further questions to his legal team.
“From now on, I will let my lawyer talk about the case but I will fight like hell because as they sit in the briefing room collecting salaries, they don’t know there are people like me who build companies from scratch,” Ateba concluded.
“Pray for me.”
2021 Flashback! Jen Psaki yells at African reporter over this
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