A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction late Tuesday to extend White House press access for three news outlets targeted by President Donald Trump.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who was appointed by Trump, determined that MS Now, CNN, and Politico would likely succeed on the merits in their First Amendment lawsuit against the administration because their journalists’ press passes were revoked without due process.
“It is likely that Plaintiffs were selected by President Trump for revocation of their access to the White House press area because he believes their coverage of him and his administration is generally inaccurate and biased,” Kelly wrote in his ruling. “Simply put, that is unlawful viewpoint discrimination.”
The judge said Trump’s public comments “suggest that he intended the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes to alter their reporting on him, bolstering the case that his action here is sufficient to deter a reporter of ordinary firmness from reporting in the same way she had before.”
After the president banned the three outlets from covering the White House last month, the plaintiffs filed a lawsuit to challenge the move. Kelly initially granted their request for a temporary restraining order and extended it before issuing a firmer preliminary injunction.
The latest ruling means the White House cannot enforce its ban on MS Now, CNN, and Politico while the case proceeds in court. Based on a Truth Social post from Trump last month, the Department of Justice may appeal the preliminary injunction.
FEDERAL JUDGE EXTENDS ORDER HALTING WHITE HOUSE PRESS BAN WHILE CONSIDERING LONG-TERM RULING
In the meantime, a lawyer for the plaintiffs is grateful the judge ruled in their favor.
“The harm this ban did to our clients, the First Amendment, and the public as a whole is profound,” attorney Theodore Boutrous said. “The Court was right to enjoin the White House from enforcing this ‘unconstitutional ban on the free press’ for the foreseeable future.”
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
