WASHINGTON—Three news organizations—CNN, MSNBC and Politico—asked a federal judge Monday to extend his temporary order that restored their access to the White House. The outlets said President Trump’s attempt to ban them was an “unlawful assault on fundamental First Amendment freedoms.”
Attorneys for the news organizations filed the request with U.S. District Judge Tim Kelly. They argued the administration’s actions to “retaliate” against them, even after Kelly’s initial order, show the White House’s “motive is to punish and chill journalism they dislike.”
Judge Kelly, appointed by President Trump during his first term, issued a temporary restraining order last week. That order required the White House to reactivate press badges for journalists from the three outlets, which had been turned off earlier this month, preventing their entry to the White House grounds.
Kelly’s initial order restored the outlets’ access for two weeks, with the current order set to expire Oct. 8. Press badges confiscated under the ban were returned and reactivated Thursday, following the judge's ruling.
The White House initially argued national security concerns motivated the ban. Judge Kelly rejected this claim last week but indicated he would consider additional evidence supporting that justification.
However, the news organizations contend President Trump and other officials have consistently justified the ban by citing negative coverage, even as the administration pushed the national security argument in court filings. The outlets said President Trump “has continued to justify the ban on the ground that he dislikes Plaintiffs’ coverage of him and his administration without even mentioning national security.”
They also highlighted a Sunday press appearance by Attorney General Todd Blanche. Blanche described the national security risk as stemming from “one-sided media coverage” provided by certain outlets. The filing asserted, “The real reason Defendants imposed the ban — expressed contemporaneously and repeatedly since then — is that the President dislikes Plaintiffs’ supposedly ‘negative’ reporting.”
The outlets pointed to a specific incident following Kelly’s order. After their badges were restored, the administration refused to allow CNN to join President Trump on Air Force One for his trip to Tennessee Saturday. CNN was the assigned television pool member for that day, part of a rotating group of news organizations covering presidential movements.
This incident, referenced in the new filing, serves as evidence that the “White House has persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently” implementing the ban. The media companies concluded the “White House’s words and actions leave little doubt that it will immediately reinstitute a complete ban of CNN, MSNBC and Politico if allowed the opportunity.”
Judge Kelly must now decide whether to extend the temporary restraining order, a decision that will determine the immediate future of White House access for the three news organizations.
