Trump-Nominated Judge Appears Skeptical of White House Press Ban, Promises Swift Ruling

A jurist nominated to the bench by President Trump, Judge Timothy Kelly, seemed inclined to side with three press outlets which were recently banned from the White House grounds by Mr. Trump. Judge Kelly said it appeared reporters’ due process rights were violated. Mr. Trump made the unexpected announcement last week that CNN, MS NOW, and Politico would no longer be allowed on the White House campus after running what he saw as negative coverage. Other television outlets, including NBC News, Fox News, and CBS News decided to stop running video for the pool until their colleagues had their press credentials reinstated. On Monday, the three banned outlets sued Mr. Trump in federal court, arguing that he showed “disregard of the most basic guarantees of the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause.”“President Trump has said in no uncertain terms that he would prefer only to be covered by news organizations and reporters who praise his administration,” the lawsuit states. “But the Constitution does not allow a president or any other government official to deprive the press of their First Amendment rights.”In court on Wednesday, attorneys for the Justice Department argued that the ban was necessary for national security purposes. Mr. Trump and his administration believe that several recent reports from the outlets on the Iran war were detrimental to American security, including stories on depleted munitions stockpiles. When the Justice Department attorney defending Mr. Trump made that argument, the lawyer for the news outlets, Ted Boutros, scoffed at the assertion. “He didn’t mention national security at all,” Mr. Boutros said, noting that Mr. Trump’s explicitly stated reasoning for the ban is because those outlets have not covered him in a positive enough light. “He despises the reporting and the content of the reporting,” Mr. Boutros argued, saying that the ban “is just contrary to the First Amendment principles that have governed this country since the beginning of time.”On the national security question, Mr. Boutros argued that it was a “post hoc” — or after the fact — defense of the ban because the reports on the war “have been out there for months and months and months.”“It’s not legitimate,” Mr. Boutros said. “This is arbitrary. It’s irrational.” He argued that the press credentials should be restored as soon as possible given the importance of covering Mr. Trump’s meetings with President Xi this week. Judge Kelly, who also ordered the reinstatement of then-CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s credentials in 2019, appeared inclined to side with the press outlets. He said he was likely bound by circuit court precedent which requires the White House give proper notice and due process to any reporter or outlet the administration seeks to ban from White House grounds. He said at the end of the hearing that he would rule on the issue “as soon as I can.”Mr. Trump has already expressed pessimism that he will win in the district court, given Judge Kelly sided with Mr. Acosta in 2019. In a Truth Social post earlier this week, Mr. Trump said he will likely have to appeal the case after Judge Kelly issues his ruling. “As usual, we’ll go for appeal because Fake News people and publications that only write negatively, and who violate our National Security by writing false and defamatory stories with unknown ‘sources,’ shouldn’t be allowed access to the most important Office anywhere in the World,” Mr. Trump wrote.

Trump-Nominated Judge Appears Skeptical of White House Press Ban, Promises Swift Ruling

Trump-Nominated Judge Appears Skeptical of White House Press Ban, Promises Swift Ruling

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