Fox News host Mark Levin backed President Donald Trump's ban on Politico at the White House, citing the outlet's report on his stepson.
Levin made his case Monday in a post on X, hours after Politico's Playbook newsletter reported that his stepson had solicited cash wedding gifts from Israeli citizens.
The stepson, David Milstein, is a senior adviser to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and holds a top-secret security clearance, according to Playbook.
"President Trump was right to ban Politico from the White House. And I want to tell you why, and about a specific situation this morning involving my stepson, David Milstein," Levin wrote.
Trump announced the ban three days earlier, writing on Truth Social on Friday that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be barred because of their "constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS," the Guardian reported. Journalists from all three outlets had their White House badges disabled Saturday, the paper said.
The White House also removed CNN from its scheduled turn in the television press pool on Monday, The New York Times reported.
The Playbook report said Milstein sent a Paperless Post wedding invitation on Sept. 16 that asked for "monetary wedding gift[s]" in either "U.S. dollars or Israeli shekels," along with a QR code.
"He's a giant walking counterintelligence red flag," a member of the intelligence community told Playbook.
On Saturday, hours after Playbook asked whether he had State Department and White House approval for the request, Milstein told invitees the message had been "unintentionally sent to the broader guest list" and that "we cannot accept gifts of any kind," the newsletter reported.
"[I]f David wasn't my stepson, I've no doubt he wouldn't be treated like this," Levin argued in his post.
"David did not 'solicit cash gifts from Israeli citizens to celebrate his upcoming wedding,'" he wrote.
"David responded to requests by sending an email-message that there was no registration for gifts and suggested an alternative option. The email-message was intended for family and close friends but went to the larger email list of guests," Levin continued, without saying what the alternative was.
Levin also accused Adam Wren, whom he identified as the Politico reporter behind the story, of using "cherry-picked anonymous sources to create an entirely false narrative and impression."
Two people told Playbook that others fear Milstein because of his stepfather, who is close with Trump, and that Milstein frequently drops Levin's name to protect himself.
"Wren also claims people are afraid of David because I'm his stepfather — according to more anonymous sources. This is pathetic like the rest of his hit piece," Levin wrote.
Levin has advised Trump directly before, meeting with him and several aides in the dining room next to the Oval Office in June 2025, on the day Iran's supreme leader rejected a U.S. nuclear proposal, the Times reported.
The Times described Levin as an influential voice for an anti-Iran view, and advisers told the paper that the conversation appeared to have made an impression on the president.
"I totally understand why [President Donald Trump] would take away press credentials for dishonest media & give them to others who have integrity in journalistic standards," Huckabee, Milstein's boss, wrote on X Monday while sharing Levin's post.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico said Monday they were suing in federal court in Washington to regain access, asking a judge for a temporary restraining order that would lift the ban while the case plays out, the Guardian reported.