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Federal Judge Timothy Kelly has ordered the Trump administration to immediately reinstate CNN, MS NOW and Politico’s access to the White House after they were banned from the premises by President Donald Trump.
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Kelly found that the revocation of reporter’s press badges was done without “constitutionally adequate due process,” according to the ruling issued early Thursday.
“The ‘general rule’ is that “individuals must receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before the Government deprives them’ of a constitutionally protected interest,” Kelly wrote.
The Trump administration didn’t notify the reporters’ of an opportunity to appeal his decision until Wednesday, days after the passes were confiscated.
Trump announced the ban of the three outlets in a social media post Friday, writing that he was kicking the news outlets out “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!” and adding “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”
The three news outlets sued, requesting the ban be paused or blocked entirely. In court filings and during a hearing Wednesday, an attorney for the outlets argued the ban contradicted prior court rulings, violated due process and was issued merely because of Trump’s disdain for the journalists.
Attorneys for the administration countered, saying that Trump’s decision did include an appeals process — one that was only spelled out in letters sent to the outlets days after the ban was announced.
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During Wednesday’s hearing on the motion for a temporary restraining order, Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik argued that CNN, MS NOW and Politico had endangered national security with their reporting and that Trump has the right to decide who can have access to the White House.
Ted Boutrous, representing the news outlets, said “the first mention of national security in this case” occurred days after the announced ban and following the current lawsuit against the administration. Boutrous said it seemed as if “a light bulb went off” in the administration to adopt the national security argument to justify the ban post hoc.
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Boutrous also argued the news organizations were only provided letters from the White House outlining why they had been banned days after the ban was announced and following their lawsuit.
Boutros also noted that only one CNN story cited by the administration to highlight why the outlets were being kicked out was written by a reporter with access to the White House and that the stories cited “are just garden variety reporting.”
Kelly, in his ruling, made note of this, and that the CNN story cited as a national security concern — a report about the rebuilding of a bunker under the East Wing — was published months before reporter Betsy Klein’s press pass was renewed this summer.
“None of Defendants’ arguments convince the Court that Plaintiffs are not likely to succeed on their due process claim,” Kelly wrote.
At the start of Wednesday’s hearing, Kelly noted that he had presided over a similar case in 2018, when Trump booted then-CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after a heated exchange between he and the president, and had to abide by past precedent in the court.
“There is a due process claim and a due process issue that seems to me the first stop in figuring out how to resolve the motion,” Kelly said. The judge added that at the time, he was surprised to learn the DC Circuit Court had previously held reporters had a right to a notice before their White House passes were revoked and a right to appeal the decision.
“I just say to both sides, that’s where I am,” Kelly said at the start of the hearing.
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This is a developing story and will be updated.