Got a cite? This sounds fishy to me.
The amendment does say that we can petition the government for a redress of grievances.
It doesn't say at all what that means.
You've got to approach someone with it....why not the president as much as anyone else?
How about the plain language of first amendment? You can't get a better cite than that. (Unless you are some kind of pharisaical legal scholar).
It is clear that if a petition for a redress of grievances is an available remedy under the first amendment, that the "government" (any and all branches) has the power to grant it. And if it is the judical branch one is alleging a greivance against, it would clearly be a violation of the constitution to deny the power to redress that greivance by one of the other branches of government.