Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
The Trump administration accused media outlets CNN, MS NOW and Politico of threatening national security in their reporting, as it defended banning the outlets from the White House.
The allegations, made in a court filing Tuesday, came in response to a lawsuit filed by the media companies over President Donald Trump’s decision to block them from covering his presidency.
“Access to the White House is a privilege _ not a right,” the Trump administration said in the filing.
The White House argued Trump’s actions are lawful under the First Amendment and accused the outlets of not upholding professional standards by “trafficking in verifiable falsehoods” and publishing sensitive or classified information, claiming risks to national security.
No U.S. law explicitly makes it a crime for a journalist to obtain or publish classified information.
The filing includes letters from the White House press office to CNN, MS NOW and Politico, citing coverage of issues such as the White House construction projects, U.S. munitions stockpiles and the Iran war.
The letters point to coverage such as CNN’s article about the construction of a secure underground facility beneath the White House East Wing, and a piece by Politico saying that the Iran war has made the U.S. more vulnerable.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico did not immediately reply to a request for comment early Wednesday. On Saturday, the outlets pledged to fight the ban in a joint statement, saying the White House had revoked credentials from their journalists “because it objected to our reporting.”
“Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference,” the outlets said at the time.
Trump first said Friday he would ban the three outlets from the White House, saying he disliked how they covered him and accusing them of being “fake news.” The following day the organizations said their journalists were blocked from White House grounds and press passes were confiscated.
The media organizations fought back, filing the lawsuit in federal court Monday, alleging Trump and others violated their First Amendment free press rights and due process under the Fifth Amendment. They asked a federal judge to halt the bans and restore their access. Other media outlets banded together in support, stopping video and photographic coverage of the president.
Plaintiffs in the suit include the media outlets and their White House reporters: MS NOW’s Akayla Gardner, CNN’s Betsy Klein and Politico’s Cheyenne Haslett. Trump, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, White House communications director Steven Cheung and Secret Service Director Sean M. Curran are named as defendants in their government capacities.
The White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment early Wednesday. On Monday, Trump denied the White House is assailing a free press in a post on Truth Social, but said it is cracking down on “FAKE NEWS,” describing it as “corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control.”
On Wednesday, Justice Department lawyers will face off against attorneys for the media organizations, with U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly hearing arguments for and against halting the bans. Kelly, a Trump appointee, granted a temporary restraining order to restore then-CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s White House press pass in 2018.
Trump has said he will allow the three outlets back in if Kelly strikes down the ban, but insisted he should have the right to kick them out.
“I’m talking about national security, and I think we have a right to clean out fake news,” he told reporters Tuesday.
The White House Correspondents’ Association president has called for the reporters’ access to be immediately restored. Press advocacy groups have also condemned the move as a violation of the First Amendment and legal experts have said they are skeptical the ban will hold up.
U.S. courts have consistently ruled that denying or restricting a journalist’s entry to the White House on the basis of their reporting violates the First Amendment. Failure to provide a clearly stated justification for any denial risks violating the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.