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Previously banned media outlets regain White House access

By Anonymous
1 minute read
Previously banned media outlets regain White House access

CNN, MS NOW and Politico have regained access to the White House after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration early Thursday to restore press credentials to news organizations immediately.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Ban on White House press access stays in place while judge considers the case

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Timothy Kelly wrote that the administration likely violated the outlets' constitutional due process rights and ordered it to restore their press credentials.

However, CNN, MS NOW and Politico requested an emergency hearing after their reporters were initially denied entry Thursday morning.

In their emergency request, the outlets said "time is of the essence" because CNN is scheduled to cover Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the White House. The Department of Justice filed a motion prior to that emergency hearing saying that all of the credentials had been restored.

The original access bans began Sept. 19, one day after President Donald Trump said he would restrict access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico. Trump accused the three outlets of producing "fake news."

The outlets sued the administration Sept. 21 on First Amendment grounds. In a court filing, the Department of Justice claimed the ban on reporters at the White House stemmed from national security concerns.

The judge, however, said the administration offered "little to back up their asserted national security interest to justify revocation of plaintiffs’ hard passes," and issued a temporary restraining order, allowing the outlets to access the White House.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Reporters from CNN, MS Now, and Politico barred from White House

The E.W. Scripps Company, which is our parent company, signed on to a filing alongside the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the White House Correspondents’ Association and 48 other media organizations to oppose the Trump administration’s ban on these three outlets. Our filing asked the judge to grant a temporary restraining order to restore access for our colleagues.