Judge Timothy Kelly said Trump’s ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House appeared inconsistent with appellate rulings requiring due process before press passes are revoked. He has not ruled on their request to restore access temporarily.
The outlets argued the ban violated First Amendment press protections and due process. The Justice Department said White House access is a privilege and defended the revocations on national-security grounds, citing reporting on U.S. missile stockpiles, construction of Trump’s White House ballroom and turnout at the Republican Party’s recent midterm convention. It said letters sent Tuesday explained the revocations; Kelly questioned how letters sent after the passes were revoked could provide notice.
In a 2018 case, Kelly ordered the White House to restore CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s pass after finding that it had not used fair, clear procedures to revoke it. Separately, major U.S. television networks suspended pooled coverage of Trump’s movements on Monday in solidarity with the three outlets, disrupting a decades-old system for televising the president’s public appearances.
