Judge Halts Trump’s White House Press Ban: Barred Journalists Must Be Allowed Back In

Donald Trump wanted to ban CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House. Now his administration must immediately return the three news organizations’ press passes. On Thursday, federal Judge Timothy Kelly suspended the access ban imposed on September 18 for 14 days. In his preliminary assessment, the measure likely violates freedom of the press and the journalists’ constitutional due process rights. Trump had justified the ban by claiming the outlets were spreading “LIES” and made-up stories. In court, his Justice Department then invoked national security. Kelly found nothing in the documents presented to support the claim that revoking the press passes would protect national security or that restoring them would put it at risk.

The judge pointed to earlier rulings by the federal appeals court: Journalists cannot lose their White House access without due process. In Kelly’s assessment, the affected news organizations had not been given a meaningful opportunity to challenge their exclusion. The administration pointed to letters in which it said it had explained its decision. The only problem was that those letters did not arrive until Tuesday, after the passes had already been revoked and the news organizations had filed suit. An explanation after the punishment is no substitute for due process. The Justice Department had also argued that access to the White House was a privilege, not something anyone was entitled to, and that the president had the authority to suspend it.

CNN, MS NOW, and Politico had filed suit against Trump and other administration officials on Monday. They cited the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and demanded that they be allowed back into the White House while the case worked its way through the courts. Dozens of news organizations and press freedom groups backed them in court. In their view, a government cannot exclude journalists because of their editorial stance. Kelly’s order does not end the legal battle. But for now, it does put an end to Trump’s attempt to slam the White House door in the faces of these three news organizations because of their reporting.