Federal Judge Rules Against Trump On Liberal Press Ban

A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from denying three liberal news outlets from accessing the White House. 

Judge Timothy Kelly put a 14-day block on Trump’s ban of CNN, MS NOW, and Politico while litigation on the case continues. Trump announced a ban last week on the outlets, saying they had pushed “fake news.”  

Kelly, appointed by Trump during his first term, wrote in his early Thursday morning order that the media outlets would likely succeed on their claims that they were denied due process when their passes were revoked. The judge also dismissed Trump’s arguments that the outlets were banned for national security purposes. 

“For another — and simply put — the record lacks factual support for Defendants’ contention that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes will in fact protect national security or that national security will be endangered if the Court orders their passes reinstated while this litigation proceeds,” Kelly wrote. 

Kelly has a history of ruling against Trump, including in cases related to media access to the White House. Back in 2018, he sided with CNN in a case over former reporter Jim Acosta’s access to the White House. He also sentenced Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy over his links to the January 6 riot. Tarrio was not in D.C. on the day of the incident. 

CNN, MS NOW, and Politico collectively sued on Monday arguing that the Trump administration was violating their First Amendment rights. 

In a filing responding to the lawsuit, the Trump administration noted that “access to the White House is a privilege — not a right.”

“The President’s actions must be sustained because the President has ‘compelling interest[s]’ in enforcing minimum standards for bona fide journalists and safeguarding national security information. At the very least, the Government may control reporters’ access to restricted presidential areas, such as the Oval Office, even for viewpoint-discriminatory reason,” the White House argued. 

The filing argued that the three outlets had published classified information and were endangering national security. 

On Monday, Trump suggested that other outlets may soon lose access to the White House.

“The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America. It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped,” Trump posted on Truth Social. 

A preliminary hearing is expected on the case before the two week block of the ban elapses.