Federal Judge Orders White House to Restore CNN, MS NOW and Politico Press Credentials

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to immediately restore White House access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, ruling that the ban on the three outlets was likely unconstitutional.

Judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court in Washington issued a 14-day temporary restraining order early Thursday, directing the administration to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the press credentials held by employees of the three news organizations.

The judge found that the revocation of press passes “likely violated their constitutional due process rights,” writing that the outlets did not receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before their hard passes were revoked.

President Donald Trump announced the ban last Friday, accusing the outlets of reporting “fake news” and “fiction and lies.” Reporters for the three organizations were denied entry to the White House grounds on Saturday and had their credentials confiscated by Secret Service agents.

“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,” Theodore Boutrous, a lawyer representing the media companies, told CNN.

The administration had argued that the ban was necessary to protect national security, but Kelly said he was skeptical that was the actual motivation, noting that Trump’s public statements focused on the outlets’ coverage rather than security concerns.

Following the ruling, the White House initially continued to deny access to the banned reporters.

CNN reporter Betsy Klein was turned away multiple times Thursday morning despite the court order, prompting lawyers for the three outlets to request an emergency hearing.

In a court filing, White House press operations director Micah Stopperich said the administration began reactivating the badges at 7:25 a.m. and Secret Service confirmed they were turned back on at 9:07 a.m. However, reporters were not actually allowed back onto the grounds until shortly after noon.

CNN was allowed back into the White House around noon Thursday. MS NOW and Politico reporters also regained access later in the day.

The White House Correspondents’ Association had called on the administration to “immediately restore our colleagues’ access,” warning that “a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future”.