President Donald Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) said the nearly 50-year-old ruling protecting journalists’ access to White House press credentials was “wrong” and "should be overruled." In a court filing on Tuesday, the DOJ argued against parts of the 1977 ruling in Sherrill v. Knight, which found that if the White House denied a journalist a press pass they must given notice of the reason for the denial and the opportunity to respond "While Defendants acknowledge Sherrill’s holding that White House reporters have protectable due process rights in their hard passes, Defendants respectfully submit that Sherill was wrongly decided and expressly reserve their right to argue this on appeal," lawyers for the Trump administration wrote. The filing also argued that the White House’s decision should stand even under that ruling.
"But even under Sherrill, the President’s actions must be sustained because the President has “compelling interest[s]” in enforcing minimum standards for bona fide journalists and safeguarding national security information," the DOJ said. CNN, MS NOW and Politico, which Trump banned from the White House last week, have filed a First Amendment lawsuit in a bid to restore their access. Trump has accused outlets of reporting “fiction and lies" and has since launched its own round-the-clock video channel, dubbed “Trump TV: The Essentials Station." This is a developing story - more to follow.
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