Trump Relents And Grants White House Media Access Again

UPDATE — Thursday, Sept. 24, 202, 1:00 p.m. EST:

The New York Times reports that journalists from CNN, Politico, and MS NOW were finally allowed to re-enter the White House grounds around noon on Thursday, after reporters said they were still denied access following a ruling by U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly that blocked the Trump administration’s selective media ban, citing a violation of due process. According to the Washington Post, the three networks had requested an emergency hearing after their reporters found they were still blocked from entering.

Our previous coverage continues below. 

Welp, President Donald Trump was right about a thing.

On Tuesday, Trump appeared to predict via social media that the judge presiding over the lawsuit filed by CNN, MS NOW and Politico over the president’s selective White House press pool ban would ultimately rule in the plaintiffs’ favor and, so far, that’s exactly what’s happening, because, on Thursday morning, the judge ordered the White House to restore the outlets’ access while the case plays out, and expressed skepticism that Trump’s big, babyish ban had any merit at all.

Not exactly a Nostradamus-level prediction, obviously, since courts have ruled that this president and his administration can’t just revoke press access all willy-nilly, but it’s yet another example of the president abusing the power of his office and forcing the judicial branch to step in and stop him.

According to the New York Times, U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly granted a 14-day restraining order and told the White House to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the press credentials held by employees of the three outlets. By the way, the outlets aren’t arguing that their First Amendment rights were violated; they’re arguing they didn’t receive due process to challenge the bans before their access was revoked, and the judge agreed.

From the Times:

The news organizations were likely to succeed in their claim that the White House had violated their constitutional due process rights by revoking their press credentials without advance notice or an opportunity to respond, Judge Kelly wrote in the order issued in the early hours of Thursday.

He also rejected, for now, the administration’s argument that revoking the outlets’ press credentials was necessary to protect national security.

“This is a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process and the rule of law. We greatly appreciate the court’s swift action,” Theodore J. Boutrous, a lawyer representing the media companies, told CNN.

As we previously reported, the White House claimed in a court filing that the three outlets were banned because they were “trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues, and publishing sensitive or classified information.” It claimed it sent each outlet a letter that included a “non-exhaustive list of reporting incidents” to back up this claim, but the only examples listed in the filings were the funding of Trump’s ballroom and details regarding his East Wing bunker, which the White House described as “top secret,” even though the president has spoken extensively about his pet projects publicly, whether anyone wanted to hear about them or not.

Also, it’s going to be difficult to argue that this ban was about national security when Trump has already made it abundantly clear that he banned CNN, MS NOW, and Politico because they “purposely write negative news” about him.

According to the Associated Press, Judge Kelly said in his ruling that the government must have clear standards for conduct that would lead to revoking a press pass. He said the White House’s reasoning for banning the three outlets was “so vague it hardly does the trick.” 

I mean, this isn’t exactly an administration that is known for backing up allegations with any semblance of actual substance, so…

And, of course, Kelly pointed out that Trump has already made this ban all about the negative reporting, making the new argument that it’s a security issue quite dubious. (Told you!)

“Nothing in the record … suggests that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes was motivated by national security concerns,” he wrote.

In Trump’s Tuesday tweet, he called Kelly “disloyal” because, no matter how often he’s lost in federal court, he still doesn’t seem to understand that the judicial branch does not answer to him.

Kelly is a Trump appointee, nominated by the president during his first term in 2017. In 2018, Trump revoked the White House press credentials of CNN journalist Jim Acosta after the two got into a heated exchange during a press conference, and Kelly ruled the credentials had to be restored because Acosta hadn’t been given an opportunity to contest the decision. Look, I’ve written before about how Trump is the epitome of what many call the definition of insanity: trying the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.

Anyway, according to AP, reporters from all three outlets said their access to the press pool was still blocked a few hours after the judge issued his order. MS NOW White House correspondents Laura Barrón-López and Akayla Gardner both reported on air Thursday morning that they still did not have access to the White House.

This, of course, isn’t the first time Trump has defied a judge’s order, only to buckle later. We’ll have to wait and see how it all shakes out this time.

So, this court battle is still ongoing, but things aren’t looking good for our emotionally fragile president. However, things look great for preserving the free press under an administration that keeps attacking it, albeit largely unsuccessfully.

This is what checks and balances look like, and they have been working overtime to keep this administration in check for the better part of the last two years.

SEE ALSO:

Surviving Trump: The President Misses The Media Attention [Op-Ed]

White House Says Press Access ‘Is A Privilege, Not A Right’