3 Outlets Seek Permanent Ruling on White House Press Access

CNN, MSNOW and Politico asked a federal court Wednesday to make permanent the orders barring the White House from keeping them out of the presidential press pool. The three outlets filed an amended complaint saying the administration continues to block their reporters from covering President Donald Trump in the Oval Office and aboard Air Force One.

Judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled about two weeks ago that the outlets are likely to succeed in the case. On Oct. 13, Kelly found the administration had violated the outlets' Fifth Amendment right to due process and sided with a second claim that the ban breached their First Amendment rights. He rejected the argument that the restrictions served policy goals such as national security.

Kelly wrote that Trump's stated belief that the outlets' reporting was inaccurate and biased drove the ban. "Simply put," the judge wrote, "That is unlawful viewpoint discrimination." The outlets say the Constitution forbids the government from taking action against coverage it does not like.

Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., the outlets' attorney, said in a statement that the White House continues to block reporters from "the very locations that the president most frequently engages with the press." The filing states that "Every news organization now faces the risk of similar punishment for coverage the President deems insufficiently favorable," adding that the public loses current and complete information about its government.

Trump maintains he is not required to admit news outlets whose reports he dislikes onto White House grounds, onto Air Force One or into other areas. The White House had not responded to the amended lawsuit as of Thursday morning. The case now sits with Judge Kelly, who set no new hearing date in the filings reviewed.