Coming right up against a deadline set by a federal judge, the Justice Department tonight defended Donald Trump‘s ban on CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House grounds. The response comes despite an outcry across media outlets that the restriction is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment.
Leaning onto a Wednesday hearing on a temporary injunction order, the administration argued for Trump and top White House aides in its opposition filing that the “President’s actions are lawful under the First Amendment.” he Department of Justice added: While the D.C. Circuit has held that some areas of the White House grounds constitute a nonpublic that decision is wrong and should be overruled.”
After Trump banned the three outlets on Friday, CNN, Politico and MS NOW jointly sued the president and top staffers, claiming violations of the First and Fifth amendments.
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“This ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles,” their lawsuit stated.
Late Tuesday, the DOJ laid out POTUS’ POV.
“The White House is the home and workplace for the Nation’s Commander-in-Chief,” the 19-page document from Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate and others at the DOJ states. “Plaintiffs CNN, MSNOW, and Politico have long been granted privileged access to White House grounds. But the President concluded that they have failed to maintain basic minimum “standards of professionalism and decorum expected of those given access to the White House Complex, including” by ‘publishing sensitive or classified information.’”
Snapping at UN credentialed CNN reporters while in NYC today, Trump has found himself out of the usual spotlight.
Shortly after the filing on Monday, the five major TV networks that make up the White House TV pool said that they were suspending coverage in solidarity, leaving a void in video of Trump at the White House and other events. The pool is made up of CNN, NBC News, ABC News., CBS News and Fox News. Other outlets, like The New York Times, have protested the ban in other ways, like withholding their use of images from the White House.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday afternoon on the outlets’ motion for a temporary restraining order. Trump has already signaled that he expects the judge to rule in the networks’ favor and plans an appeal. Even though he appointed the judge in his first term, Kelly sided with then-CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after the network sued the Trump administration for revoking his hard pass in 2018.
The three outlets’ legal team, led by Theodore Boutrous Jr., bolstered their case earlier on Tuesday when they noted a new D.C. Circuit decision on access to the steps of the Capitol. The judges ruled that the eastern steps of the Capitol were a “nonpublic forum” but speech regulations had to be “viewpoint neutral.”
Trump has complained about the three outlets’ coverage of him, telling reporters, “There’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories.”
