A federal judge has delivered a trio of liberal media outlets a win in their battle with the president over access to the White House grounds.
While the networks and their lawyer appear excited over the outcome, President Donald Trump has made clear this is but a battle in a war he means to win.
‘Plaintiffs have engaged in a number of reporting incidents that have threatened national security.’
How it started
Trump announced Friday that he was barring CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS,” stressing that “Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America.”
Following the president’s proclamation, White House television pool members — including Fox News — circled the wagons and agreed to end pooled coverage in protest.
Meanwhile, the three banned networks sued Trump, two of Trump’s staffers, and U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran, claiming that “this ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles.”
Alleging that the ban violated the First Amendment and the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, the media networks asked for the restoration of their White House hard passes and access as well as for a declaration that the ban was unconstitutional.
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Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The White House argued that:
- the government has a “compelling interest in awarding hard passes to journalists satisfying minimum standards” and that the three networks did not meet those standards;
- the “Plaintiffs have engaged in a number of reporting incidents that have threatened national security”; and
- the networks are mistaken in their conclusion “that there is a special property or legal interest in access to the White House.”
How it’s going
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly did not buy what the White House was selling.
Early on Thursday, the Trump-appointed judge granted the liberal networks a 14-day restraining order and ordered the White House to reinstate White House hard pass press credentials to employees of CNN, MS NOW, and Politico.
Kelly said in his order that the plaintiffs had “shown a likelihood of success, at least on their Fifth Amendment procedural due process claim.”
The judge noted further that “none of Defendants’ arguments convince the Court that Plaintiffs are not likely to succeed on their due process claim.”
Kelly rejected the White House’s argument that the ban was motivated by national security concerns, writing, “Certainly, that is not what President Trump said when he announced that he was ‘banning’ Plaintiffs from the White House — instead, he focused on the alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity of Plaintiffs’ reporting.”
“Defendants offer no declarations or other support — classified or unclassified — explaining how any of the reporting they identified in their letters to Plaintiffs damaged the national security.”
Trump, apparently anticipating this turn of events, noted on Monday, “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.”
Ted Boutrous, the lawyer representing the liberal outlets, said in a statement, “This is a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process, and the rule of law. We greatly appreciate the court’s swift action.”
The White House did not immediately respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.
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