President Donald Trump has been ordered to restore White House access for journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, with a federal judge ruling early Thursday morning the three media outlets must be “immediately” granted necessary permissions.
U.S. District Judge Tim Kelly issued his directive in a lawsuit the news organisations collectively filed contesting the Republican president’s announcement Friday that forbade their access to the White House, as Breitbart News reported.
“Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America,” he wrote when announcing the veto.
“Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow,” Trump added.
For their part, the outlets despaired that the ban was a blatant First Amendment violation because it singled them out for the content of their coverage.
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Five U.S. broadcasters consequently halted pool coverage of the White House – where a broadcaster films then shares on behalf of all television outlets for the day – in a rare move to show solidarity with CNN.
AP reports Kelly ordered the White House to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the three outlets’ access.
He said they had met the legal thresholds to obtain a temporary restraining order, in effect for 14 days, and were likely to succeed in showing their press passes were revoked without due process.
“This is a high bar, but Plaintiffs have met it,” he wrote.
The AP report further notes Kelly — whom Trump nominated in 2017 and who ordered a CNN journalist’s access restored in a similar case in 2018 — heard arguments Wednesday.
Temporary restraining orders are typically designed to preserve the status quo pending a closer review of the case by the court.
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The White House is yet to comment on the ruling and lawyers acting for the president may take further legal action.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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