Media Outlets Sue President Trump Over White House Access Ban
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
MS NOW, CNN and Politico have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn President Trump's ban on their journalists from White House premises, alleging First Amendment and due-process violations.
Three news organizations—MS NOW, CNN and Politico—are set to file a joint lawsuit in Washington federal court on Monday, asking a judge to lift President Donald Trump's recent ban on their reporters entering the White House. The outlets claim the ban, announced on Friday, was imposed without notice, due process or clear standards, and that it infringes on constitutional protections for the press.
The complaint argues that the President’s action violates the First Amendment by retaliating against the outlets for their reporting and by discriminating based on viewpoint. It also alleges a breach of the Due Process Clause because the journalists were denied advance notice or an opportunity to challenge the revocation of their hard-pass credentials, which grant access to the executive residence.
"The First Amendment prohibits the president from punishing journalists because he doesn't like their coverage," said Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.
"The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinize those elected to power," said Jacqui Heinrich, president of the White House Correspondents' Association.
The lawsuit names President Trump, his communications aide Steven Cheung, White House chief of staff Susan Wiles and Secret Service director Sean Curran as defendants. It seeks a temporary restraining order to restore the journalists' credentials and halt any further enforcement of the ban.
The ban follows the White House’s removal of CNN from the travel pool scheduled for President Trump’s upcoming United Nations General Assembly trip. The plaintiffs contend that this action causes irreparable harm to their newsgathering operations.
The case is filed in the same district where The Associated Press is pursuing a separate suit over a partial White House ban that was previously ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge appointed by Trump. The administration and the Department of Justice have not responded to requests for comment.