D.C. District Court Judge Tim Kelly concluded a hearing on Wednesday regarding President Donald Trump's ban of three news organizations—CNN, MSNOW, and Politico—from the White House without issuing an immediate ruling. The news organizations had requested a temporary restraining order to regain access, arguing that the ban constituted a "direct assault on the First Amendment" and a "blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles" abcnews.com, channelnewsasia.com.
Despite not ruling immediately, Judge Kelly indicated that the White House had not provided a compelling legal justification for its actions. He suggested that the administration had not followed due process in revoking the media outlets' access, noting that they were not given advance notice or a meaningful opportunity to contest the decision theguardian.com, yahoo.com. Kelly also pointed out that the White House's actions did not appear to comply with precedents from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which mandate due process before revoking press credentials.
The three news organizations filed a lawsuit against Trump, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Communications Director Steven Cheung, and Secret Service Director Sean Curran, alleging violations of the First Amendment (freedom of speech and press) and the Fifth Amendment (due process) straitstimes.com. This incident follows a similar 2018 case where Judge Kelly ordered the White House to restore CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's press pass, citing a lack of fair and clear procedures yahoo.com.
In solidarity with the banned outlets, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, and Fox News suspended their usual pool coverage of the White House. They issued a joint statement asserting that no administration should restrict a news organization due to objections about its reporting straitstimes.com, channelnewsasia.com. Trump, who has frequently criticized media outlets as "fake news" and the "enemy of the people," instituted the ban after accusing the organizations of distributing "fiction and lies" channelnewsasia.com.
