Status reported that Vice President JD Vance was the anonymous source for Politico’s June report estimating an 80–85% chance of a preliminary deal with Iran. The Trump administration cited the story in a court letter defending its removal of Politico’s White House access.
The Washington Post reported that the administration’s Tuesday court letter identified six Politico stories and accused the outlet of reporting material that threatened national security or spread falsehoods. The June report drew on a White House-hosted call: an aide set the terms as “on background,” with comments attributable only to a “senior administration official.” Participating reporters agreed to those terms; Status was not part of the call and was not bound by the agreement.
The Associated Press, Bloomberg and CNBC also reported comments from the same briefing but were not included in the ban, the Post reported. Politico, CNN and MS NOW sued Monday seeking to restore their White House access; Politico had until Friday at 5 p.m. to argue the letter’s contents. The White House declined to comment to Status or the Post, and Politico did not respond.
