A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to temporarily reinstate press credentials for three news organizations that were barred from covering White House events last week. Judge Timothy Kelly issued the 14-day temporary restraining order shortly after midnight, allowing CNN, MS Now, and Politico to resume their coverage pending further legal proceedings.
The revocation of press credentials occurred on Saturday following a request from President Trump. The three outlets filed a joint lawsuit against the president on Monday, arguing that the ban violated their constitutional rights.
While President Trump stated on Friday that the decision was driven by a cumulative sense of “two years of unfair and negative coverage” rather than any specific reporting incident, the Department of Justice argued in a Wednesday court filing that the outlets were barred because their journalism jeopardized national security and spread misinformation.
In his ruling, Judge Kelly expressed skepticism regarding the government’s justification. He noted that the record did not support the claim that safeguarding national security was the true motivation behind the revocation of the journalists’ hard passes. Additionally, Kelly pointed out that the defendants failed to provide evidence demonstrating how the identified reporting damaged national security.
The judge also highlighted a discrepancy in the government’s allegations, noting that the reporters implicated in the stories cited by Department of Justice lawyers did not actually hold the hard passes in question.
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