Judge Extends Order Allowing News Agencies White House Access

Authored by Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times,

A federal judge has extended his order forbidding President Donald Trump from excluding certain media outlets from accessing the White House.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a memorandum opinion on Oct. 13 granting a preliminary injunction sought by CNN, MS NOW, and Politico to maintain the block on the president’s press ban, finding that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their First Amendment discrimination claim.

Trump announced on social media last month that he was banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”

After the outlets sued, Kelly ordered the White House to temporarily restore access on Sept. 24, ruling that the government likely violated their Fifth Amendment due process rights by abruptly taking away their press passes without notice or a hearing.

Attorney Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. told the court at an Oct. 8 hearing that Trump wanted to ban the outlets because of their viewpoints.

“He doesn’t like scrutiny of his policies, he doesn’t like the reporting, he wants more good press,” he said.

Department of Justice Senior Counsel Michael Velchik pushed back, telling the court that Trump was more concerned with media outlets allegedly fabricating quotes, splicing together interviews, and using anonymous sources.

“He doesn’t mind negative press stories if he deserves them. He has problems with trafficking verifiable falsehoods,” he said.

The government argued it was necessary to exclude those outlets in the name of national security and to prevent leaks of classified information.

But Kelly said, when originally ordering the White House to restore access, that there was no evidence on the record to back up that claim.

In his ruling on Tuesday, Kelly said Trump likely revoked their access to the White House press area “because he believes their coverage of him and his administration is generally inaccurate and biased,” rather than for legitimate government interests such as maintaining professional standards for journalists or protecting national security.

“Simply put, that is unlawful viewpoint discrimination,” the judge wrote.

Kelly also said the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in their claim that the administration denied them due process rights under the Fifth Amendment by revoking their access without prior notice.

The judge determined that the administration’s letters outlining the reasons for the hard passes revocation were inadequate because the outlets received the letters only after the ban was implemented.

The letters cited reports that the administration said “threatened national security and spread falsehoods,” including coverage of “‘top-secret’ construction details” about the East Wing bunker and funding for the White House ballroom.

The White House said the reports included detailed descriptions of how the Secret Service would invest in security improvements, according to the government’s Sept. 22 court filing.

The judge said there was no evidence that Trump had relied on the reported incidents cited in the letters when deciding to revoke the outlets’ hard passes.

The Epoch Times reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Trump signaled on Sept. 21 that he expected the judge to rule in favor of the outlets and said his administration would appeal if that happened.

“In any event, I have an obligation to fight for the Success and Safety of our Country. FAKE NEWS IS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY, and I will do whatever is necessary to make sure that the U.S.A. thrives,” he wrote in a Truth Social post.