New York: A federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s ban of three news outlets from the White House, ordering early Thursday that CNN, MS NOW and Politico must have their access restored.
Reporters from all three outlets, however, said they remained blocked a few hours after the ruling.
The news outlets asked in a court filing for an immediate hearing to address their continued ban from White House grounds.
The back-and-forth is the latest in an extraordinary showdown between Trump and media outlets whose coverage he dislikes.
Trump first announced he was banning the outlets Friday, assailing what he called “fake news,” and only later arguing that their reporting was a risk to national security. The outlets argued in a joint lawsuit that the ban was a blatant violation of the First Amendment because it singled them out for the content of their coverage.
In his late-night ruling, US District Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the White House to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the three outlets’ access. He said they had met the legal thresholds to obtain a temporary restraining order, in effect for 14 days, and were likely to succeed in showing that their press passes were revoked without due process.
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