A federal judge in Washington is set to hear emergency arguments Wednesday afternoon in a lawsuit filed by CNN, Politico and MS NOW after the Trump administration barred their reporters from the White House complex, the latest flashpoint in the administration's running conflict with the press.
The dispute dates to Friday, when President Trump announced he was barring the three outlets over coverage he described as "fake news." Enforcement began the next morning, when Secret Service personnel deactivated credentials and confiscated security passes from White House correspondents, including Betsy Klein of CNN, Akayla Gardner of MS NOW and Cheyenne Haslett of Politico.
'Privilege, not a right'
The three outlets sued Monday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing the ban violates the First Amendment's press protections and the Fifth Amendment's due-process guarantee. "This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes," the organizations said in a joint statement.
The Justice Department's response, filed late Tuesday, argued that White House access is a privilege the president may withdraw at will, and that the outlets had failed to meet "basic minimum standards of professionalism and decorum" expected of badge holders. Government lawyers pointed specifically to coverage of the Iran war and of Trump's White House ballroom construction project, arguing that reporting on both threatened national security.
The case has been assigned to US District Judge Timothy Kelly, who in 2018 ordered the restoration of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's press badge after an earlier Trump-era ban, a precedent both sides are expected to invoke Wednesday.
Press freedom groups have rallied behind the outlets. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has been circulating a friend-of-the-court brief signed by dozens of news organizations, including the Associated Press, Reuters, the New York Times and the Washington Post, and Jameel Jaffer of Columbia's Knight First Amendment Institute called the ban "an attack both on press freedom and the public's right to independent information about the government."
"This is textbook viewpoint discrimination, and it will be quickly struck down by the courts if challenged."
Bruce Brown, president, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
A ruling or temporary order could come as soon as Wednesday's hearing concludes, though the administration is expected to appeal any decision restoring the outlets' access.
