CNN, MS NOW and Politico urged a federal judge on Monday to extend his order blocking President Donald Trump from banning their journalists from the White House grounds.
Judge Timothy J. Kelly, a Trump appointee in Washington, D.C., issued a temporary restraining order Thursday blocking the ban and restoring access to the media outlets. But the news companies now are seeking a preliminary injunction that will last until the case is over, asserting that the Trump administration has continued to improperly restrict their coverage.
“The White House has persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban, including by barring CNN from fulfilling its role as designated television network pooler on September 26 — to the detriment of CNN, its fellow pool members and, ultimately, the American public,” the filing says.
In the filing, Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., who represents the news companies, urged Kelly to extend his order before it expires. The “irreparable harm Plaintiffs have already suffered from the ban will quickly compound” if the president is allowed to restrict their access to the White House once again, the filing says.
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The media outlets repeatedly contended in court that the ban violated their First Amendment and due process rights. Kelly found in his order that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their due process claims because the White House confiscated media passes without giving the journalists prior notice or the opportunity to be heard, but he did not address the First Amendment concerns levied by the outlets.
“The President and his administration have continued to make clear that this ban has only one purpose: to punish reporting he doesn’t like,” Boutrous said in a written statement released with the filing. “That’s retaliation and viewpoint discrimination, pure and simple.”
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