Key takeaways:
- A temporary order restoring access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico expires Oct. 8; the outlets seek a preliminary injunction lasting until their case is resolved.
- The outlets say CNN was excluded from a television pool assignment and an Air Force One trip despite the court order.
- The administration says White House access is a privilege, while the outlets argue the ban violates the First Amendment and due process.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico asked a federal judge to keep the White House from enforcing its ban on their reporters while their lawsuit proceeds, arguing that the administration has continued to restrict access despite a temporary court order.
A two-week restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly restored the outlets’ access to White House grounds but expires Oct. 8. The three organizations now seek a preliminary injunction that would remain in place until the case is resolved.
“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,” their lawyers wrote in a 42-page filing Monday. They said the administration had “persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban,” including by barring CNN from a television pool assignment on Sept. 26.
The White House ban began Sept. 19. The outlets sued President Donald Trump and the White House two days later, arguing that the restrictions violate their First Amendment rights and due process protections. Their latest filing says continued enforcement would cause irreparable harm to the organizations and the public.
Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., the outlets’ lead attorney, called the ban “a blatant violation of the First Amendment and due process” in a statement to The Associated Press. He said its purpose was “to punish reporting he doesn’t like,” adding: “That’s retaliation and viewpoint discrimination, pure and simple.”
The administration maintains that it can decide who enters the White House. “When it comes to the White House, it is the people’s house,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday on ABC. “It is a privilege, and not a right, to be there.” Blanche also said Trump was “sick and tired of certain media outlets just refusing to report accurate news” and described what he called misinformation as a national security problem.
Kelly questioned that rationale in granting the temporary order. “The court is skeptical… that defendants’ interest in safeguarding national security is the actual motivation” for withdrawing access, he wrote. At a hearing, he also raised concerns that the outlets had not received due process before their access was cut off.
The new filing focuses partly on the broadcast pool, which includes CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News. After CNN was removed from the rotation, the other networks suspended the pool in solidarity until CNN was allowed back. CNN later covered a Trump event with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the National Archives, but the White House barred it from Air Force One for Trump’s trip to a college football game in Tennessee. The other networks declined to send a replacement.
“CNN received no official communication from the White House explaining its exclusion,” the filing says. As a result, it says, no primary television network pooler accompanied Trump on the trip. Blanche defended the decision, saying the president “has every right to decide who gets to fly on his plane.” Kelly’s temporary order did not directly address pool assignments.
The networks are handling future assignments case by case, according to a person familiar with their discussions. David A. Schulz, who directs Yale Law School’s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, said they face a difficult choice: “There are not a lot of good options.”
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