CNN, MS NOW and Politico returned to federal court Thursday morning, saying their journalists were denied entry to the White House just hours after a judge ordered the Trump administration to restore their press credentials.
In an emergency filing, attorneys for the three outlets asked U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly for an immediate hearing. They said reporters from each organization had been turned away and that Secret Service agents confiscated some journalists’ hard passes that had not already been taken.
“Defendants have already repeatedly violated the Court’s Order,” the lawyers wrote. Kelly had not made a new finding on compliance when they filed that allegation.
The lawyers said CNN reporter Betsy Klein, whose pass was confiscated Saturday, was refused entry again Thursday after asking for it back. CNN reported that Klein and a photojournalist were denied access despite multiple attempts, while one CNN producer entered using a pass. Reporters for MS NOW and Politico also said they were blocked.
The reason for the uneven access was not immediately clear. The White House had not provided an explanation for the Thursday morning denials, according to CNN and Mediaite.
Xi Visit Raises the Stakes
The outlets’ attorneys urged quick action because CNN was scheduled to handle television pool coverage for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the White House later Thursday. Pool journalists gather material that is shared with other news organizations when space or access is limited.
“Time is of the essence,” the lawyers wrote. They said they had contacted the administration’s attorneys that morning and asked to call the court together but had received no response at the time of the filing.
Kelly directed the Justice Department to respond to the request by 12:30 p.m. ET, CNN reported.
A Temporary Ruling, Then Another Court Fight
Kelly, whom President Donald Trump appointed to the federal bench during his first term, issued a 14-day temporary restraining order overnight. It directed White House officials and their agents to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” hard passes revoked after Trump announced a ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico last Friday.
The judge found that the outlets were likely to succeed on their claim that the passes were revoked without adequate due process. His order did not decide the lawsuit’s broader First Amendment claims or permanently settle the White House access dispute.
Administration lawyers had argued that reporting by the outlets raised national security concerns. Kelly wrote that the record lacked factual support showing that revoking the passes would protect national security while the case proceeds. He also questioned whether that concern had motivated the ban, noting that Trump’s initial announcement focused on what the president called false and negative coverage.
The new filing asks Kelly to address what happened at the White House gates after his order took effect. Whether the administration deliberately failed to comply, and what relief the judge might order next, remained unresolved Thursday morning.
