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Judge Orders White House to Restore Press Access
Confirmed
In Short: Judge Timothy Kelly wrote that the administration likely violated the outlets' constitutional due process rights and issued a temporary restraining order, allowing the outlets to access the White House.
A federal judge ordered the White House to immediately restore press credentials to journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, ruling that the three news organizations were likely denied their constitutional right to due process.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., argued that the administration violated the outlets' First Amendment rights by cutting off their access to the White House.
The original access bans began on September 19, one day after President Donald Trump said he would restrict access for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico.
The judge said the administration offered 'little to back up their asserted national security interest to justify revocation of plaintiffs’ hard passes,' and ordered the White House to restore their press credentials.
In the lawsuit, the news outlets are asking a federal judge to immediately restore their access, which was denied on Saturday, a day after Trump announced he was restricting them from entry to the White House grounds.
The outlets are seeking a temporary restraining order and injunction to prohibit the ban from being enforced and to require that their access be restored, as well as a declaratory ruling.
The White House Correspondents’ Association and 48 other media organizations also signed on to a filing alongside the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to oppose the Trump administration’s ban on these three outlets.
The ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles, said a spokesperson for the lawsuit.
The public at large suffers for however long the unconstitutional ban restricts access to current and complete information about their government.
The protection afforded newsgathering under the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press requires that this access not be denied arbitrarily or for less than compelling reasons, the judge ruled.
What this adds
The judge's ruling emphasizes the constitutional importance of press access and due process in the context of the First Amendment.
What's confirmed
- CNN, MS NOW and Politico are suing President Trump jointly for violating their constitutional rights after his administration cut off their journalists' access to the White House.
- WASHINGTON — A federal judge early Thursday ordered the White House to immediately restore press credentials to journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, ruling that the three news organizations were likely denied their constitutional right to due process.
What's still developing
- After winning in a landslide election in April, current Prime Minister Péter Magyar and his pro-European, center-right Tisza party hold a two-thirds majority in Parliament, allowing them to make constitutional changes and roll back many of the policies Orbán implemented during his 16 years in power.
- BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s Parliament voted Monday to pass a constitutional amendment to remove President Tamás Sulyok from office and make some political reforms aimed at dismantling the political system of autocratic former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
- The constitutional amendment, which had the stated purpose of “restoring rule-of-law democracy,” passed with 139 votes for and six against in the 199-member Parliament.
- Tisza lawmakers held a standing ovation after the vote, while lawmakers from Orbán’s far-right Fidesz party boycotted the parliamentary session.
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