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The legal dispute between the White House and CNN, MS NOW and Politico over a ban on the outlets’ access to the presidential residence is deepening. In a new filing, attorneys for the media organizations said the White House had continued taking measures against them even after a court ruling, with the aim of punishing journalism disliked by the administration.
Operative Information Center-OMM reports that foreign media outlets carried the information.
U.S. District Judge Tim Kelly last week issued a temporary restraining order requiring the administration to restore the press credentials of employees of the media organizations. The journalists’ credentials had been revoked earlier this month, blocking their access to the White House grounds.
Tim Kelly initially rejected the White House’s national security arguments concerning President Donald Trump’s decision to bar the media organizations. However, the judge, who was appointed during Trump’s first presidential term, said he could consider additional evidence explaining the rationale.
The media organizations argue that, despite the administration’s reliance on national security arguments in court, Donald Trump and other officials have openly said the ban was linked to negative coverage.
Their filing says Donald Trump has continued to justify the ban not by citing national security, but by expressing dissatisfaction with reports about him and his administration. The media organizations also cited a statement made Sunday by Attorney General Todd Blanche, who said one-sided media reports posed a national security risk.
The judge’s order restored the media organizations’ access to the White House for two weeks. On Thursday, press credentials taken by the administration under the ban were returned to journalists and reactivated.
Nevertheless, during Donald Trump’s trip to Tennessee on Saturday, the administration did not allow a CNN employee to fly with the president aboard Air Force One as a member of the television press pool.
The White House press pool is a smaller group of media outlets that covers presidential events and trips on a rotating basis when it is not possible to accommodate all journalists. The media companies cited the incident as an example of what they called the White House’s inconsistent and contradictory enforcement of the ban.
They said the White House’s statements and actions raised serious concerns that a full ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico could be reinstated immediately if the opportunity arose.
Tim Kelly’s temporary order says legal precedents establish that media organizations have the right to receive advance notice before being barred and to challenge the decision. The judge noted that the White House’s failure to follow that procedure could violate the constitutional principle of due process.
The media organizations are challenging the ban not only on procedural grounds but also on the basis of freedom of the press protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The temporary order expires on Oct. 8. The outlets are seeking an injunction allowing them to retain access while the case is considered in federal court in Washington.
The media organizations have also urged the judge to apply broader legal grounds to keep Donald Trump’s ban in effect. Their filing stresses that no formal procedure can permit the banning of a free press protected by the First Amendment.
Donald Trump said on Sept. 18 that he had banned the media organizations, citing their continued dissemination of “fake news.” The White House later pointed to reports about the war in Iran, construction of a ballroom in the East Wing and the Republican Party’s midterm election convention, claiming that the reports posed a threat to national security or spread false information.
