Court extends three media outlets’ access to the White House — The Guardian

In Washington, United States, federal judge Timothy Kelly extended until Tuesday a temporary court order requiring the White House to allow journalists from CNN, MS Now and Politico access to the building. The judge also said that by then he would likely rule on the media companies’ motion for a preliminary injunction.

Legal dispute over access

Kelly issued the temporary order on September 24, requiring the White House to lift the ban for 14 days. That period was due to expire on Thursday, October 8. The media companies asked the court to extend the order.

As The Guardian reports, in his previous ruling the judge said that the White House had violated constitutional due process requirements. In his assessment, the companies were not given sufficient notice of the standards of acceptable conduct and were not given an opportunity in advance to object to a possible restriction.

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Arguments of the parties

Attorney Theodore Boutrous, representing CNN, MS Now and Politico, said in court that President Donald Trump directly linked the ban to critical coverage of his activities in a recent interview with Time magazine. According to Boutrous, this amounts to an admission of viewpoint discrimination and retaliatory action against the media.

White House representative Michael Velchik argued that one factor in the decision was, in the administration’s view, the three media outlets’ failure to comply with basic standards of journalistic conduct. He also reproached the companies for failing to respond to letters sent after the restrictions had already been imposed, in which they were offered the opportunity to object to the allegations made against them.

During the hearing, Kelly noted that the government still has a problem with proper notice. He called the advance-notice standards established by judicial precedent in a similar case involving access to the White House the biggest obstacle to the government’s position.