(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge has granted CNN, Politico and MS NOW a temporary restraining order requiring the White House to restore the outlets’ hard-pass press credentials.
The order requires the defendants, excluding President Donald Trump, as well as their agents and representatives, to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the White House hard-pass press credentials held by employees of CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
Judge Timothy Kelly granted the media organizations’ request in the ongoing case Cable News Networks, Inc. v. Trump after their credentials were revoked on Sept. 18, according to the court order.
The temporary restraining order will remain in effect for 14 days, unless otherwise ordered by the court.
Kelly expressed skepticism about the Trump administration’s argument that the stories it cited as justification for revoking the outlets’ press credentials raised national security concerns.
Kelly described the stories identified by the administration as “routine” and said he was “skeptical” that the government’s stated interest in safeguarding national security was the actual motivation for revoking the hard passes. He also noted that Trump did not mention national security concerns when he announced the ban.
“Nothing in the record that predates this suit suggests that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes was motivated by national security concerns,” Kelly said in the filing. “Certainly, that is not what President Trump said when he announced that he was “banning” Plaintiffs from the White House — instead, he focused on the alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity of Plaintiffs’ reporting.”
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