Three news outlets that were barred from the White House this month — CNN, MS NOW and Politico — asked a federal court on Monday to extend their access to the grounds and protect their participation in pool coverage.
“The White House’s words and actions leave little doubt that it will immediately reinstitute a complete ban of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO if allowed the opportunity,” the filing said.
The outlets were barred from entry on Sept. 19 after President Trump cited their “constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!” and called for the ban in a social media post. Two days later, they sued in federal court in Washington to have their access restored.
Judge Timothy J. Kelly ruled last week that the White House had not given the outlets proper notice of the ban and issued a two-week order restoring their access to the White House grounds. That order is set to expire on Oct. 8.
The outlets’ filing repeated their arguments that the White House ban violated both their right to contest any effort to keep them away from the White House and their First Amendment rights. Mr. Trump, the media companies argued, had made clear that he instituted the ban to punish them for “negative” reporting. Days after denying access to reporters from those companies, the White House sent them letters citing issues with their professionalism and their reporting on national security.
“At base, the empty, malleable supposed standards cited by the White House do nothing but authorize Defendants to punish reporting they dislike,” read the filing.
Although Judge Kelly’s temporary order required the White House to reinstate the outlets’ credentials and restore their access to the White House grounds, it didn’t explicitly address their participation in the pool coverage that is so critical to reporting on the president.
Five networks — ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC — provide footage of Mr. Trump’s daily events on a rotating basis, sharing footage with one another and other global news outlets.
Over the past week, the five networks suspended the TV pool in an effort to force the administration to reinstate CNN’s access. The administration seemed to relent on Friday, when it let CNN film an event with Mr. Trump at the National Archives. But on Saturday, the White House blocked CNN from its TV pool assignment covering Mr. Trump on a trip to Tennessee for a college football game.
“The White House has persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban, including by barring CNN from fulfilling its role as designated television network pooler on September 26 — to the detriment of CNN, its fellow pool members and, ultimately, the American public,” said the motion.
The news organizations’ filing requested a court order to stop enforcement of the White House ban and to ensure that the outlets are afforded “the same access” they had before the ban, a measure that would leave their pool assignments intact.
A White House scheduling email sent on Sunday indicated that CNN would be granted a pool slot on Thursday.