CNN, Politico and MS NOW Ask a Judge to Keep Their White House Access Until Their Case Ends
The outlets say the administration keeps enforcing its ban 'unpredictably and inconsistently' despite a court order, including barring CNN from Air Force One on Monday.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico asked a federal judge on Monday to keep the White House from enforcing its ban on their reporters until their lawsuit is decided. The three news organizations want a preliminary injunction that would extend the access a court restored last week, before that order runs out on Oct. 8.
President Donald Trump barred the three outlets from White House grounds starting Sept. 19, and the outlets say they got no due process before it happened. They sued on Sept. 21, calling the ban a direct assault on the First Amendment. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a two-week temporary restraining order on Sept. 22 that put their credentials back in force.
In the new filing, the outlets argue the administration has "persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban" even with the order in place. They point to CNN being singled out and kept off White House pool duties, and to CNN being barred from Air Force One on Monday, which kept its reporter off a presidential trip. "The White House's words and actions leave little doubt that it will immediately reinstitute a complete ban of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO if allowed the opportunity," the lawyers wrote.
Theodore J. Boutros Jr., an attorney for the outlets, said the administration has made clear that the ban "has only one purpose: to punish reporting he doesn't like." The filing says the government has not offered a credible reason tied to security.
The administration has defended the ban on national security grounds. Attorney General Todd Blanche has argued that access to the White House is a privilege and not a right. Trump, hours after the lawsuit was filed, called the outlets a threat to national security on social media. Judge Kelly, according to accounts of the earlier proceedings, expressed skepticism about that justification.
The dispute has spread beyond the three plaintiffs. The broadcast pool, which includes ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox News, has suspended its normal rotation when CNN is excluded, a show of solidarity among competitors that rarely happens. The White House has fought news organizations over access before, and an appeals court earlier allowed a ban on the Associated Press to continue while that case went on, a precedent the administration may cite.
Kelly has not yet said when he will rule on the injunction. If he does not act before Oct. 8, or if he denies the request, the ban could return the next day.
