A judge has ordered the Trump administration to immediately reinstate access to the White House for three news organisations barred from the building last week by the president.
A District of Columbia court issued a temporary restraining order against the ban, meaning CNN, MS NOW and Politico must have their access restored for 14 days, after ruling the move “likely violated their constitutional due process rights”.
The three outlets launched a legal challenge after their reporters had their passes for the White House confiscated and were denied access.
The Trump administration defended the move in court, accusing the outlets of publishing false information and threatening national security – an argument the court rejected.
The White House is yet to comment on the ruling, and lawyers acting for the president may take further legal action.
Judge Timothy Kelly ruled CNN, Politico and MS NOW were “likely to succeed” in showing the White House had not exercised “adequate due process” in implementing the ban.
He also cast doubt on the Trump administration’s arguments that the bans were motivated by national security concerns, pointing out the president made no mention of that in his initial announcement.
The ruling continued: “The record lacks factual support for Defendants’ contention that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes will in fact protect national security or that national security will be endangered if the Court orders their passes reinstated while this litigation proceeds.”
