Ted Boutrous Discusses White House Press Access Case and North Dakota Roots With North Dakota News Cooperative

In the Media  |  October 5, 2026

North Dakota News Cooperative

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Partner Ted Boutrous was profiled by the North Dakota News Cooperative and discussed his work leading a team fighting to restore and maintain White House access for journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO after their press passes were revoked by the Trump administration.

“What’s really unfortunate with President Trump issuing this ban is that it squelches information to the public,” Ted said. “Our democratic system is built on the idea that the people should get as much information as possible so they can decide how to run a democracy.”

Ted, a native North Dakotan, reflected that his interest in press freedom and access issues stems back to his days as an undergraduate student at the University of North Dakota. “I was thinking of fiction, journalism, and I think probably if I hadn’t ended up being a lawyer, I probably would have gone down the journalism route.”