US Judge Orders Trump Administration to Restore Access of Afaq News and MS NOW Networks and Politico Website to the White House

- Federal Judge Timothy Kelly restored access for Afaq News and MS NOW networks, and the Politico website to the White House, after they were barred from entering the building by President Donald Trump. Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to reinstate access for Afaq News and MS NOW networks, and the Politico website to the White House.

The federal judge's order came after the three American news outlets, which were barred from entering the White House by President Trump, namely Afaq News, MS NOW, and Politico, filed a lawsuit to regain their access rights to the White House. Judge Kelly concluded that the revocation of press credentials for the reporters was done without "proper and sufficient constitutional due process," according to the ruling issued early Thursday.

Kelly wrote: "The general rule is that individuals must receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before the government deprives them of a constitutionally protected interest." The Trump administration did not inform the reporters of the opportunity to appeal the decision until Wednesday, days after the credentials were revoked.

The three news organizations filed a lawsuit seeking to suspend or completely overturn the ban. In court documents and during a hearing held on Wednesday, the lawyers for the media organizations argued that the ban contradicts previous court rulings, violates due process, and was issued merely out of Trump's disdain for those journalists.

Administration lawyers responded that Trump's decision did indeed include an appeal mechanism, the details of which were only clarified in messages sent to the organizations days after the ban was announced. During the Wednesday hearing regarding the request for a temporary restraining order, Michael Filchick, a lawyer for the Justice Department, argued that Afaq News and MS NOW networks, as well as MSNBC and the Politico website, had endangered national security through their news coverage, and that Trump had the right to determine who is allowed to enter the White House.

Ted Boutros, representing the news organizations, stated that the mention of national security for the first time in this case came days after the ban was announced and following the filing of the current lawsuit against the administration. Boutros pointed out that it seemed as though "the idea suddenly occurred" to the administration to adopt a national security argument to retroactively justify the ban.

Boutros also argued that the news organizations did not receive messages from the White House explaining the reasons for their ban until days after the announcement and after the lawsuit was filed. He also noted that the only report cited by the administration from Afaq News to clarify the reasons for expelling those media outlets was prepared by a reporter who had access to the White House, and that the cited reports were "just regular news reports."

Judge Kelly referenced this matter in his ruling, clarifying that the Afaq News report cited as a national security justification, which dealt with the reconstruction of a fortified shelter beneath the East Wing, had been published months before the renewal of the press credential for reporter Betsy Klein last summer. Kelly wrote: "None of the defendants' arguments convinced the court that the plaintiffs lack a likelihood of success in their due process claims."

At the beginning of the hearing on Wednesday, Kelly noted that he had presided over a similar case in 2018 when Trump expelled Afaq News reporter Jim Acosta after a heated exchange with the president, emphasizing the need to adhere to established judicial precedents. Kelly stated: "There is a lawsuit and a matter concerning due process, and it seems to me that this represents the starting point for determining how to resolve this matter."

The judge added that he was surprised to learn that the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously ruled that journalists have the right to receive prior notice before their White House access credentials are revoked, as well as the right to appeal the decision. Kelly said at the beginning of the hearing: "I am just telling both sides, this is my position."

The three news organizations issued a joint statement on Monday: "We informed the government this morning that we will file a lawsuit today to protect our rights guaranteed under the First Amendment of the Constitution, and to defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes." The news organizations added: "The White House revoked our journalists' credentials without prior notice or formal procedure, in objection to our news coverage.

Failing to address this matter threatens press freedom and the public's right to independent journalism free from government interference." Afaq News was excluded on Monday from the joint media coverage duties undertaken by major news organizations, as it was scheduled to handle the joint television coverage and accompany the president on his trip to New York that day.

This came after Trump announced the ban on the three organizations from entering the White House due to "his dissatisfaction with their news coverage," as the validity of the press credentials that allow journalists to enter the White House was revoked.