National newsrooms banished by Trump ask judge for a lasting court order restoring White House access

Three national news organizations barred from the White House by President Donald Trump have requested a court injunction blocking the ban, warning the judge that their press access would otherwise be restricted permanently.

Trump blocked MS NOW, CNN and Politico from covering the White House in person on September 18.

The three news outlets have long covered presidential administrations, and each had multiple reporters focused on the Trump administration. Lawyers for the newsrooms have battled the banishments in court, arguing that Trump issued them because of the outlets’ critical coverage of his administration.

“He implemented the ban to coerce more favorable coverage from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, and to deter other journalists and news organizations from newsgathering and reporting that the president might view as negative,” their legal teams wrote in a filing in the federal District Court for the District of Columbia.

Other members of the White House television pool sided with their banned colleagues by cutting back their own coverage of the White House, including outlets like NBC News, CBS News, ABC News, and even Fox News, which is widely viewed as more favorable in its coverage of Trump.

Last Thursday, U.S. Judge Timothy J. Kelly issued a temporary restraining order blocking the ban for 14 days.

The three outlets resumed their coverage of the White House, but their lawyers expressed concern about how long this access would last in a Monday court filing.

“Because the ban is an unlawful assault on the most fundamental First Amendment freedoms and will inflict irreparable harm on [the] plaintiffs and the public if not restrained, this court should preliminarily enjoin its enforcement pending the resolution of this case,” the filing reads.

The Justice Department must submit a brief in response by Friday. Media representatives for the department did not immediately return an email request for comment from The Advocate on Tuesday.

Attorneys for the news organizations are raising concerns that the ban’s effect could be far reaching.

“Every day, critically important news is breaking at the White House, and the ban will substantially interfere with [the] plaintiffs’ ability to cover it,” the lawyers wrote. “The ban also inflicts an injury on all news media organizations — which now risk a similar fate if they engage in fact-based, independent reporting the president deems insufficiently favorable.”