Barred news outlets seek emergency hearing after White House continues to deny access

A federal judge ordered early Thursday that the White House immediately restore access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, saying that President Donald Trump’s directive barring the three news outlets was most likely unconstitutional.

In granting a 14-day temporary restraining order reinstating the outlets’ access while their legal challenge proceeds, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly wrote that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in their lawsuit against the Trump administration, at least on the grounds that their credentials were revoked last week without due process.

Trump, he wrote, did not dispute that the outlets “did not receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before their hard passes were revoked.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for overnight comment from NBC News.

“This is a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process and the rule of law. We greatly appreciate the court’s swift action,” the attorney representing the news outlets, Ted Boutrous, said in a statement.

Trump had posted on social media before a Wednesday hearing in the case that he expected the “totally disloyal” Kelly, whom he nominated to the bench during his first term, to rule against him — adding that “as usual, we’ll go for appeal.”

Trump announced the ban on the three news outlets in a post on Truth Social on Friday, saying it was “a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!”

“Media 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. Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow,” he said.

Thursday’s order rejected the White House’s argument that banning the outlets was motivated by national security concerns, saying it offered little proof to back up the claim.

“Certainly, that is not what President Trump said when he announced that he was ‘banning’ Plaintiffs from the White House — instead, he focused on the alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity of Plaintiffs’ reporting,” Kelly wrote.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office a short time after the post, Trump referred to his directive as “the ban on the free press.”

“I don’t want them in my office. I don’t want them here,” he said.

He said the policy was not in response to a particular report, but because of “cumulative stories over the last few years.”

“They purposely write negative news. And they do that because they want to try and diminish the Republicans and a Republican administration,” he said. “If they could straighten themselves out, I’d love it,” he added.

The outlets said in their suit challenging the ban that Trump’s remarks show the policy was motivated by “retaliation” and “intended to cow” the outlets “into changing their reporting and threaten other journalists lest they suffer the same fate.”

The “Constitution does not allow a president or any other government official to deprive the press of their First Amendment rights and liberty and property interests with no notice or process based solely on that official’s dislike of the content of their reporting. The ban is patently unconstitutional and should be immediately restrained,” they argued.

The White House appeared to be trying to address those due process claims in letters to the news outlets on Tuesday, which told them they could “contest this initial decision” in written responses by Friday.

The letters accuse them of publishing “sensitive security information, and misinformation” which “undermines the President’s ability to safeguard the national security.”

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