The Trump administration asked a federal judge late Friday to let it once again bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, arguing the president was within his rights to block the three outlets over national-security concerns and professional standards. The request seeks to blunt a temporary court order that restored the outlets' press credentials after Trump excluded them last month.
In the Friday-night filing, Justice Department lawyers told U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly that Trump had concluded the organizations failed to maintain the basic minimum 'standards of professionalism and decorum expected of those given access to the White House complex,' including by publishing sensitive or classified information. The government said removing their access would limit one channel through which the outlets could obtain information it views as potentially harmful, and argued it was not required to prove the outlets had actually disclosed classified material.
Ted Boutrous, the attorney for the three news organizations, pushed back, calling the administration's position an indefensible 'ban on the free press' and saying the law is absolutely clear that the harm to his clients, the First Amendment and the public as a whole is profound. The outlets previously accused the administration of enforcing the ban 'persistently and unpredictably' even after the court ordered access restored — including keeping CNN off the Air Force One travel pool rotation — and asked the judge to convert the two-week restraining order into a preliminary injunction lasting through the case.
The showdown began Sept. 18, when Trump announced the ban, accusing the outlets of publishing 'fiction and lies.' Judge Kelly, a Trump appointee, ordered the credentials restored on due-process grounds; that order expires Thursday, Oct. 8, when a hearing on the longer-term injunction is scheduled. CNN is scheduled as the television pooler twice this week, including Tuesday.
