Judge orders White House to restore access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico

A federal judge ordered early Thursday that the White House immediately restore access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, saying that President Donald Trump’s directive barring the three news outlets was most likely unconstitutional. In granting a 14-day temporary restraining order reinstating the outlets’ access while their legal challenge proceeds, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly wrote that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in their lawsuit against the Trump administration, at least on the grounds that their credentials were revoked last week without due process. Trump, he wrote, did not dispute that the outlets “did not receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before their hard passes were revoked.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for overnight comment from NBC News.

“This is a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process and the rule of law. We greatly appreciate the court’s swift action,” the attorney representing the news outlets, Ted Boutrous, said in a statement. Trump had posted on social media before a Wednesday hearing in the case that he expected the “totally disloyal” Kelly, whom he nominated to the bench during his first term, to rule against him — adding that “as usual, we’ll go for appeal.” Trump announced the ban on the three news outlets in a post on Truth Social