In the three years that Donald Trump rocketed from candidate to president, the PEN American Center has criticized him as a bully, an autocrat, a user of hate speech and an enemy of free expression. In a suit filed Tuesday in Federal Court in Manhattan, the centre, also known as PEN America, alleges "official acts" by Trump have "violated the First Amendment and his oath to uphold the Constitution." Today PEN America is suing President Trump for using the power of the state to retaliate against the press, in violation of the First Amendment. Nossel added that PEN was not yet "actively asking" Bezos or CNN or other media outlets to join the lawsuit. "Media organizations are focused on covering the news objectively and providing the essential transparency and accountability that is the work of a free press," she said.

Source: CBC News October 16, 2018 17:03 UTC