CNN, MSNOW, and Politico seek permanent court order restoring press pool access
Attorneys argue the White House is continuing to block reporters from covering the president in violation of existing federal orders.
By Stella Brooks ·
Federal judges have increasingly weighed in on disputes between the executive branch and media organizations regarding physical access to the president. On Wednesday, CNN, MSNOW, and Politico filed an amended complaint in federal court, requesting that a temporary ruling restoring their access be made permanent.
The three news organizations allege that the White House is defying orders from U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly by continuing to exclude their reporters from the rotating press pool. This pool allows journalists to cover the president in the Oval Office and aboard Air Force One. The outlets claim that the administration is retaliating against them for reporting that the president dislikes.
Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., the attorney representing the media groups, stated that the White House is blocking reporters from locations where the president most frequently interacts with the press. The legal team argues that this exclusion constitutes viewpoint discrimination, a practice forbidden by the First Amendment's free speech protections. They contend that no official can punish news outlets based on the content of their coverage.
Judge Kelly ruled in favor of the journalists about two weeks prior to the latest filing. He determined that the outlets were likely to succeed in their case, expanding a previous temporary ruling that found a violation of their Fifth Amendment right to due process. On October 13, the judge also agreed that the ban breached the outlets' First Amendment rights.
The judge rejected the administration's argument that the ban served policy goals such as national security. Instead, he cited Trump's stated belief that the outlets' reporting was inaccurate and biased as the primary driver of the exclusion. Kelly wrote that this rationale amounted to unlawful viewpoint discrimination, where the government acts against speech it does not like.
In the new filing, the outlets warned that every news organization now faces the risk of similar punishment if their coverage is deemed insufficiently favorable. They argued that this dynamic deprives the public of complete information about the government. Trump maintains that he is not required to grant access to outlets whose reporting he dislikes.
The White House had not responded to the amended lawsuit as of Thursday morning. The case remains active in federal court, with the judge set to decide whether the initial orders should stand as a permanent injunction.
