Home · Politics · Sep 24 archive

Judge Orders Trump to Restore White House Access for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico

3:04 AM ETConfirmed

Politics Desk

In Short: A federal judge ordered President Trump to restore White House access for journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico.

A federal judge ordered US President Donald Trump on Thursday to restore White House access for journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, saying his ban on the three media outlets was likely unconstitutional.

In a major setback for Trump in one of his biggest battles with the media, US District Judge Tim Kelly issued his order in a lawsuit that the news organizations filed contesting the ban that the Republican president announced on September 18.

Kelly ordered the Trump administration to immediately return the outlets' press passes and blocked officials from enforcing the ban for 14 days.

The judge rejected the government's assertion that the ban was motivated by national security concerns, stating that the record lacked factual support for the revocation of plaintiffs’ hard passes.

The White House and representatives for the outlets did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a legal filing on Tuesday, the Justice Department argued that access to the White House is a privilege, not an entitlement, and that the president has the authority to suspend access by news organizations.

The judge added that it did not appear that the White House had given the targeted news outlets a meaningful opportunity to contest the revocation of their access.

Following Trump's ban, White House television pool members FOX News Media, ABC News, CBS News, CNN and NBC News announced Monday that they had agreed to suspend their pooled coverage of the president.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said that reporters for MS NOW, CNN and Politico should all immediately regain access for at least 14 days.

The judge said the Trump administration provided no hard evidence to support this argument, pointing to Trump’s own announcement of the ban.

Generally you cannot appeal a temporary restraining order — the type of ruling the judge issued — but the Trump administration has done it recently in other cases.

Kelly appeared to anticipate this in his ruling, saying he would not pause his order to allow the Trump administration the opportunity to appeal, writing, “Doing so runs against the purpose of such an order, which is to immediately — but temporarily — preserve the last uncontested status quo while the litigation proceeds,” he wrote.

Background

What's confirmed

• Sept 24 - A federal judge ordered US President Donald Trump on Thursday to restore White House access for ‌journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, saying his ban on the three media outlets was likely unconstitutional.

What's still developing

• “Almost without question and, as usual, we’ll go for appeal because Fake News people and publications that only write negatively, and who violate our National Security by writing false and defamatory stories with unknown ‘sources,’ shouldn’t be allowed access to the most important Office anywhere in the World,” the president wrote on Truth Social on Monday.
• “Your organization has exhibited behavior in violation of the standards of professionalism and decorum expected of those given access to the White House complex, including by trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues, and publishing sensitive or classified information,” the White House Press Office wrote in a letter to MS NOW.

Sources

• Reuterslink
• Fox Newslink
• MS NOWlink
• NBC Newslink
• NPRlink
• The Guardianlink
• Abcnewslink
• Abc13link
• Abc7Nylink
• Abc7Chicagolink
• NPRlink
• Oannlink
• Abc7link
• WarpBeat — background on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico Sue Trump Over White House Ban link
• WarpBeat — background on Trump Bans CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from White House link
• The Sunday Guardian — video link