Trump-Appointed Judge Who Restored Acosta’s Pass Orders White House to Restore Access for Three Outlets
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered the Trump administration to restore White House access for journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, finding that the ban was likely unconstitutional.
Kelly signed the Temporary Restraining Order in the early hours of Thursday morning. He was appointed by Trump in 2017 and is the same judge who forced the White House to give CNN’s Jim Acosta his pass back in 2018.
The order directs administration officials—excluding President Trump personally—and anyone acting with them to return and reinstate the affected passes. It covers credentials revoked on or about September 18. The outlets only have to post a $1 bond, with the order requiring that payment by October 1.
The temporary order lasts 14 days. During that time, the court plans expedited briefing on whether to issue a preliminary injunction. The ruling does not resolve the full lawsuit or finally decide every claim.
The decision came after a hearing at which Kelly appeared skeptical of the media ban. The Gateway Pundit reported Wednesday that a lawyer for the outlets accused the Trump administration of banning the organizations “completely out of the blue” and urged the judge to immediately restore their access.
“I think it is fair to say that process … wasn’t followed here, talking about predeprivation process,” Judge Kelly said, according to CNBC. He ended the hearing without issuing a ruling but said he will rule ‘soon.’
Kelly’s ruling rests on the outlets’ Fifth Amendment due process claim. He found that they were likely to show their passes were revoked without prior notice or an opportunity to respond. He also said the White House had not established clear standards ahead of time explaining what conduct could lead to a pass being revoked.
The administration argued that national security concerns justified the ban. Kelly said the record offered little factual support for that argument. That included no explanation of how the cited reporting damaged national security or how restoring the passes would endanger it.
Trump had said he expected to lose the case, even though it was assigned to one of his appointees. He also criticized the outlets and said he would appeal: “…We’ll go for appeal because Fake News people and publications that only write negatively, and who violate our National Security by writing false and defamatory stories with unknown “sources” shouldn’t be allowed access to the most important Office…”
Trump announced the ban on Truth Social, writing:
I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW (who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility!), and Politico (The recipients of an illegal and ridiculous $8 Million Dollar subscription, an All Time Record, directly from the United States Government, under Crooked Joe Biden, in order to keep them “alive.” Seems like corruption to me!), from the White House as a result of their constant “reporting” FAKE NEWS!
Over the weekend, the Secret Service deactivated the passes and turned reporters away. The three outlets then raced to court on Monday. The case now moves forward under a temporary order that requires the administration to restore the access while the legal fight continues.
Kelly also made clear that he is bound by D.C. Circuit precedent, whether he agrees with the result or not. The White House had argued that older cases were wrongly decided. The judge’s response was direct: “this Court is bound by D.C. Circuit precedent, full stop.”
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have both pointed to what they see as a major double standard. The Biden White House quietly removed hard passes from more than 440 journalists, they noted, with little reaction from the same press corps now describing the current dispute as a “First Amendment emergency.”
Conservative outlets never received the special White House workspace access that CNN, MS NOW, and Politico now demand as a constitutional right. For the moment, Kelly’s order gives those three organizations their passes back, but it leaves the larger lawsuit—and the fight over executive control of White House access—unresolved.
Read the original report at The Gateway Pundit.