Three news outlets that President Donald Trump abruptly banished from White House grounds this month asked a federal court to block the ban until the case is resolved, saying the administration has "persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban" despite a judge's restraining order — including selectively barring CNN from White House pool duties. "The White House's words and actions leave little doubt that it will immediately reinstitute a complete ban of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO if allowed the opportunity," lawyers for CNN, MS NOW and Politico wrote in a filing late Monday. "Because the ban is an unlawful assault on the most fundamental First Amendment freedoms and will inflict irreparable harm on Plaintiffs and the public if not restrained, this Court should preliminarily enjoin its enforcement pending the resolution of this case," the filing said.
It was the latest development in the back-and-forth saga of the Trump administration and the news media during the second term of his presidency. It has been a contentious relationship that has raised multiple First Amendment questions, produced sanctions and restrictions on White House and Pentagon reporters and led to several lawsuits that are winding their ways through the federal court system. A two-week temporary restraining order on Trump's ban of the three organizations, issued by U.S.
District Judge Timothy Kelly last week, restored the outlets' White House access, but expires Oct. 8. The preliminary injunction requested in Monday's filing would extend the White House access until the case is finally resolved. In a statement emailed to The immediately after the filing, the lead attorney for the three news outlets called the ban "a blatant violation of the First Amendment and due process." "The president and his administration have continued to make clear that this ban has only one purpose: to punish reporting he doesn't like," said the lawyer, Theodore J.
"That's retaliation and viewpoint discrimination, pure and simple," Boutrous said. "With the district court's temporary restraining order expiring this week, it is critical to ensure that the White House continues to be prevented from implementing this unconstitutional ban on the free press." The filing came a day after the Trump administration made clear it was not backing down from its contention that the sudden ban, which began Sept. 19, was justified. "When it comes to the White House, it is the people's house," Attorney General Todd Blanche said on ABC on Sunday, invoking an argument the administration has made since the beginning.
"It is a privilege, and not a right, to be there." Monday's 42-page filing reiterated many of the arguments that the news outlets made in their original lawsuit against Trump and the White House, filed two days after the reporters were banned. It also added mention of the White House broadcast pool rotation, which has become a battleground in the last few days in the standoff between Trump and the media. The White House, it said, "has persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban, including by barring CNN from fulfilling its role as designated television network pooler on Sept. 26 — to the detriment of CNN, its fellow pool members and, ultimately, the American public." When the ban was implemented, CNN was removed from its duties as part of the broadcast pool, which consists of the five main networks: CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News.
In solidarity, the other networks decided to suspend the pool until CNN was allowed back in. On Friday, CNN was allowed to cover the president with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the National Archives. But in a new setback Saturday, the White House banned the network from Air Force One, preventing it from covering Trump's trip to a college football game in Tennessee.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
