Colombian authorities. In 1997, Karem joined WDAF-TV in Kansas City, Missouri as an investigative reporter. While at WDAF-TV, Karem alleges that his superiors suppressed a story on the pesticide chemical, Dursban, prompting him to leave the station. Between 2004 and 2018, Karem served as the executive editor of the Montgomery County Sentinel in Rockville, Maryland and authored the Editor's Notebook, a column covering Montgomery County, Maryland. Between 2012 and 2015, he was also the publisher for MoCoVox.Com, an online content provider. While covering the Trump presidency, Karem gained attention for his interactions with administration officials. On June 27, 2017, Karem confronted then deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on "inflammatory" comments about the performance of the press while covering President Donald Trump. One year later, Karem confronted Sanders again on the Administration's policy of seizing children from their parents at United States border crossings, saying "Come on, Sarah, you're a parent! Don't you have any empathy for what these people are going through? They have less than you do. Sarah, come on, seriously." On July 11, 2019, following an event at the White House Rose Garden, Karem called conservative social media representatives in attendance "a group of people eager for demonic possession." The remark prompted Sebastian Gorka, a former deputy assistant to President Trump and now a radio talk-show host, to confront Karem, yelling across the lawn: "And you're a journalist, right?" Karem replied with what some consider a taunt saying, "Come on over here and talk to me, brother. We can go outside and have a long conversation." Accusing Karem of issuing a threat, Gorka walked across the lawn yelling, "You're not a journalist! You're a punk!" in front of a row of White House media and cameras. Following the July 11 incident, the White House Press Office suspended Karem's press pass on August 2, 2019. Karem filed a lawsuit in response before U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Rudolph Contreras blocked the suspension. On June 5, 2020, Judge David S. Tatel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled the White House Press Office wrongly suspended Karem's press pass. Music Karem is the lead singer of the Rhythm Bandits Band, playing shows in Montgomery County, Maryland. Awards National Press Club Freedom of the Press Award Pieringer Award for Valor and Journalist Excellence Books Shield the Source, (New