WASHINGTON – Three media outlets that President Donald Trump banned from the White House have asked for another hearing after reporters were blocked from returning to the campus Thursday, even after a judge ruled that the revocation of their credentials probably violated the Constitution.
Trump revoked credentials for CNN, MS NOW and Politico on Sept. 18, accusing the reporters of publishing inaccurate stories and threatening national security.
The CNN booth at the White House after President Donald Trump announced he would ban CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House in Washington, D.C., Sept. 18.
But U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, ordered the White House to reinstate the credentials temporarily while the news outlets fight the revocation in court.
Reporters for the three organizations said they continued to be blocked from entering White House grounds on Thursday despite Kelly’s order. Theodore Boutrous, a lawyer representing the media outlets, asked Kelly to hold a hearing "as early as possible this morning" as he seeks to restore their credentials.
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The White House did not respond to a request for comment when asked whether the White House is still enforcing the ban despite the judge’s order.
While no reporters from the banned outlets appeared to be on the White House grounds, hundreds of reporters from China were at the White House to follow Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting with Trump. The addition of the Chinese reporters created a crowded scene in the media areas of the West Wing.
Signs hang in the media work area at the White House after CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were kicked off the White House grounds by President Donald Trump, in Washington, DC, Sept. 23.
CNN said its reporter Betsy Klein and a photojournalist were denied access to the White House grounds after multiple attempts, but a producer was allowed onto the grounds.
MS NOW White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López said on air that she was similarly denied entry and had her badge confiscated. Politico also said one of its reporters was barred. An MS NOW cameraman was setting up equipment for live shots across the street from the White House by a Peet’s Coffee Shop.
Kelly said in his order he was restoring the credentials for 14 days because they had been revoked without “constitutionally adequate due process.”
"For one thing, nothing in the record that predates this suit suggests that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes was motivated by national security concerns," wrote Kelly, who ruled in 2018 against Trump suspending another CNN reporter’s credentials.
Kelly also said he is bound by a 1977 precedent, when a federal appeals court ruled that the White House cannot arbitrarily deny press passes to reporters based on the content of their coverage if the White House has voluntarily opened its doors to media and established facilities for the press.
Trump has said he would appeal the ruling.
The organizations have continued to report on Trump and the White House, but haven’t been allowed on the grounds.
