A former CNN anchor has demanded that he be considered for compensation after President Donald Trump's Justice Department announced a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund, according to The Daily Beast.
In a Substack post on Thursday, Jim Acosta said he wants to apply for Trump's slush fund and suggested he had a "pretty good case."
" Trump seized my White House press pass back in 2018, violating my First and Fifth Amendment rights, all part of a sustained government effort to destroy my career. Shouldn't I be compensated?" Acosta wrote.
Acosta had asked Trump about the his migrant caravan comments during a press conference in the president's first term.
"The president claimed the caravan heading from Central America to the border amounted to an 'invasion' despite it being hundreds of miles away," The Beast reported.
Trump snapped at Acosta during the contentious confrontation, called the longtime reporter "a rude, terrible person" and the "enemy of the people."
Acosta teased Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche — Trump's former personal attorney — in his satirical letter via Substack:
"Perhaps you saw it on TV? As I attempted to ask a question of the president, who was blowing his top, a White House intern tried to grab the microphone out of my hand. It was, in a word, intense," Acosta said.
Acosta's press pass was returned a week later, after CNN filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration.
"Happy ending, right? Wrong. On the same day of the judge’s decision, I received a death threat that prompted round-the-clock security for me and my family," Acosta wrote.
"More threats and violent comments flooded in during the coming weeks, forcing my employer at that time to hire bodyguards to accompany me at Trump rallies so I could continue my reporting," Acosta added.
