Federal judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court in Washington has ordered the Donald Trump administration to restore media access to the White House for CNN, Politico and MS NOW. The judge issued a 14-day restraining order requiring the White House to restore press access immediately.
“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,” Mr Kelly explained on Thursday.
The administration issued notices to CNN, Politico and MS NOW on Tuesday, days after the ban was announced on Friday and their press badges confiscated. The notice gave the outlets a three-day window to appeal.
The White House accused the outlets of publishing information that endangered national security.
While the judge acknowledged the concern, he pointed out that the notice should have come before the ban, not after.
The outlets sued the administration, arguing the ban violated their First Amendment rights, according to their lawyer, Theodore Boutrous.
The administration’s lawyer, Michael Velchik, countered, describing press pass access to the White House as a “privilege, not a right”.
He said CNN and the other plaintiffs had an “absurd interpretation of the First Amendment” because they “knowingly publish classified information”, believing they could still retain “privileged access to the White House complex”.
“None of defendants’ arguments convinces the court that plaintiffs are not likely to succeed on their due process claim,” Mr Kelly stated. “There is a due process claim and a due process issue that seems to me the first stop in figuring out how to resolve the motion. I just say to both sides, that’s where I am.”
The judge handled a similar case in 2018, when he ordered the White House to restore the press pass of CNN reporter Jim Acosta.
