- A federal judge issued an order indefinitely barring the White House from banning three media outlets from there.
- The order by Judge Timothy Kelly in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., extends an injunction against the ban by President Donald Trump of MS NOW, CNN and Politico from the White House.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., late Tuesday night issued an order indefinitely blocking the White House from enforcing the ban on three media outlets announced by President Donald Trump in mid-September.
The preliminary injunction by Judge Timothy Kelly extends his existing block on Trump's ban of MS NOW, CNN and Politico from the White House complex.
Kelly, in a written opinion, said the three outlets were likely to succeed on a claim in their lawsuit challenging the ban that they were denied due process by Trump having summarily ordered them barred from the White House without a chance to argue against that action first.
The judge said the outlets were also likely to succeed on two First Amendment claims in their civil suit.
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"Still, no one should interpret the Court's decision to suggest that President Trump's concerns about accuracy and fairness in the media's reporting are unfounded, or that the government is powerless when its true aim is to protect national security when classified information is unlawfully disclosed," Kelly said in the opinion in U.S. District Court in Washington.
"That said, for the reasons explained below, the Court will extend the relief it already ordered, which will continue to preserve the status quo while this case proceeds," Kelly said, referring to his prior order that restored access by the outlets to the White House.
Theodore Boutrous, an attorney for the outlets, in a statement said, "We are grateful that the Court ruled in favor of our clients."
"When the President issued his 'ban on the free press,' he blatantly and explicitly violated due process and the First Amendment," Boutrous said. "Since then, the President has repeatedly, candidly, and consistently admitted in public that he banned our clients from the White House to punish reporting he doesn't like and to try to force journalists to cover him in ways he prefers."
"The harm this ban did to our clients, the First Amendment, and the public as a whole is profound," the attorney said. "The Court was right to enjoin the White House from enforcing this "unconstitutional ban on the free press" for the foreseeable future."
Trump on Sept. 18 said that he was banning the three outlets because of how they have covered him.
In a Truth Social post that day, Trump wrote that the 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."
Trump later said that same day that he had become "sick" of "cumulative stories" by the outlets.
The ban took effect on the following day, Sept. 19, when journalists from the outlets were denied access to the White House grounds and had their permanent passes confiscated by Secret Service officers.
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