Judge orders White House press access restoration!
International Desk, Sep 24 (EFE).-
Federal Judge Timothy Kelly has ordered the restoration of access for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico newspaper to the White House, after they were banned from the official premises by order of President Donald Trump.
In a ruling issued early Thursday and obtained by EFE, the judge considered that the ban was imposed without “constitutionally adequate due process,” and ordered the immediate restoration of the press credentials that were withdrawn last week on Friday.
This measure will be in force for 14 days, until Oct.8, and access for these media to the White House must be allowed at least until then or until the court issues another order.
The judge in the Washington DC District Court thus sided with the media appealing the White House decision, requesting a temporary stay on the ban while the merits of the case were examined.
The affected journalists – 78 in total, according to Politico – underlined that the withdrawal of their credentials was in retaliation for the content of their reporting and a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and expression.
The decision comes hours after a hearing in which the judge questioned on Wednesday whether Trump had withdrawn the press passes without first establishing clear rules and without timely notification.
“The ‘general rule’ is that individuals must receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before the Government deprives them’ of a constitutionally protected interest,” Kelly ruled.
The affected media outlets did not receive notice of the possibility of appealing Trump’s decision until Wednesday, five days after their credentials were revoked following a sudden announcement by the president on his social media on Friday.
The judge further considered that there were no facts to support the Trump administration’s argument that the revocation of the accreditations would protect US national security, underlining that when announcing the ban, the president focused more on the alleged “negativity” of the media towards him.
Trump’s ban has caused a great stir and has led to the decision by other television networks to suspend joint coverage of the president’s events in the rotation system known as “pool,” and has restricted the dissemination of images of the leader during the United Nations General Assembly. EFE
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