A federal judge has ordered the President Donald Trump’s administration to immediately restore CNN, MS NOW and Politico’s access to the White House, ruling that the journalists were deprived of their press credentials without constitutionally adequate due process.
US District Judge Timothy Kelly issued the ruling on Wednesday, siding with the three news organisations in their emergency challenge to Trump’s decision to bar them from the White House.
Kelly found that the administration failed to provide the affected journalists with adequate notice and an opportunity to contest the withdrawal of their access before their press badges were revoked.
“The ‘general rule’ is that individuals must receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before the Government deprives them of a constitutionally protected interest”, Kelly wrote.
The decision follows an emergency hearing on Wednesday in which Kelly repeatedly focused on whether the administration had followed established legal procedures before cutting off access.
The judge had earlier pointed to existing federal precedents governing White House press credentials, including a case arising from Trump’s first administration involving former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta. Kelly had presided over that dispute and ordered Acosta’s access restored after finding due-process violations.
The US president announced the ban last Friday in a social media post, accusing CNN, MS NOW and Politico of producing what he called “FAKE NEWS”. He also warned that other media organisations could follow.
The three outlets responded by filing a federal lawsuit, arguing that the administration had violated both their First Amendment protections and due-process rights.
Their reporters were denied entry to the White House the following day after their press credentials were deactivated.
The administration initially defended the move as an exercise of presidential authority over access to the White House. It later advanced a national security justification, arguing that reporting by the three organisations had raised concerns over the disclosure of sensitive information.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Justice Department attorney, Michael Velchik, argued that CNN, MS NOW and Politico had endangered national security through some of their reporting and that Trump had authority to determine who could access the White House.
The administration had cited reports concerning the Iran war, a leak investigation and Trump’s planned White House ballroom. CNN was specifically criticised over a report concerning the rebuilding of a bunker beneath the East Wing.
But attorney Ted Boutrous, representing the three news organisations, argued that the national security justification appeared only after the outlets challenged the ban in court. He told the judge that the administration’s first reference to national security came days after the ban and suggested that the argument had been developed after the lawsuit was filed.
Boutrous also argued that the stories cited by the administration amounted to routine journalism and noted that the CNN report concerning the bunker had been published months before reporter Betsy Klein’s White House press pass was renewed.
Kelly highlighted the same issue in his ruling, noting the timing of the CNN report and the later renewal of Klein’s credentials.
“None of Defendants’ arguments convinces the Court that Plaintiffs are not likely to succeed on their due process claim”, Kelly wrote.
