A federal judge on Thursday ordered that the White House’s access to reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico be immediately restored for up to two weeks, saying President Donald Trump’s reporting ban was likely unconstitutional.
Despite the ruling, some journalists from all three news organizations were barred from the White House on Thursday morning.
MS NOW reporter Laura Barron-Lopez and an MS NOW producer had their press passes confiscated as they tried to enter, but a second MS NOW producer was allowed to enter. Politico reported that at least one reporter was also denied access, and CNN reported that some staff members were denied access, but at least one was allowed to enter.
It is unclear whether Secret Service officials are denying access to some journalists at the three news organizations because of delays in electronically reactivating their press passes, and not because they refuse to comply with a new judicial ruling.
Late Thursday, lawyers for the news organizations in a court filing notified Judge Timothy Kelly that the White House “will not comply” with the temporary restraining order and requested an immediate hearing on the situation.
“Defendant has already repeatedly violated the court’s orders,” attorney Theodore Boutras Jr. wrote in a filing in the U.S. District Court in Washington.
“Plaintiffs respectfully request that the court set up a hearing by video or teleconference as soon as possible this morning.
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the ruling and the continued denial of access to some reporters at the three stations.
In his ruling, Kelly said the three stations should immediately regain access from the ban announced by the president on September 18, denying the Justice Department’s request for at least a two-day delay. The judge was appointed to the federal bench by President Trump in 2017.
Kelly said the Trump administration must return, reinstate and restore White House “hard pass” press credentials held by employees of the three revoked news organizations. Temporary restraining orders are valid for 14 days, and Kelly said such orders are “generally not appealable.”
“Simply put, the record lacks factual support for defendants’ contention that revoking plaintiffs’ hard passes would effectively protect national security, or that national security would be jeopardized if the court ordered the passes reinstated while this litigation proceeds,” Kelly said.
In a post on Truth Social last week, President Trump said he would immediately ban the media outlet from the White House and warned that other “fake news outlets” could follow suit. The president added, “It’s going to be disgusting,” citing what he called “accumulated articles” by three news organizations.
In his ruling, Kelly said the court refused to “stay” the initial or effective date of the temporary restraining order that the defendants had sought.
“Such would be contrary to the purpose of the order, which is to immediately but temporarily maintain the last uncontested status quo while litigation proceeds,” he added.
Boutles welcomed the order, calling it “a strong judgment that vindicates press freedom, due process and the rule of law.”
“We are extremely grateful for the court’s swift action,” Bootles said in a statement.
Disclosure: CNBC and MS NOW are divisions of Versant Media.
