CNN, MS NOW and Politico sue Trump over White House ban
The three outlets ask a federal judge in Washington to block the ban and restore press credentials immediately.
Published
CNN, MS NOW and Politico have filed suit against Donald Trump, arguing that his ban on their White House access violates the First Amendment and the Fifth Amendment's due process clause, according to MS NOW.
The outlets are asking a federal judge in the U.S. District Court in Washington to issue a temporary restraining order barring Trump and other defendants from enforcing the ban, and to require immediate restoration of hard pass press credentials, according to CNBC.
Reporters from the three outlets were barred from entering the White House on Saturday, a day after Trump announced the ban, and their badges were confiscated, according to MS NOW. Trump said on Friday that he was banning the outlets because he did not like their coverage, telling reporters, "I don't have to let them into the people's house," according to CNN Wire. A Trump administration official said in a Sunday television interview that a 1965 Supreme Court opinion on the government's refusal to validate passports for travel to Cuba would support Trump's position, according to CNN Wire. CNN has asked the White House for comment on the lawsuit and had not received a response as of publication, according to CNN Wire.
The dispute echoes a 2018 case in which CNN sued the Trump administration to restore reporter Jim Acosta's press pass after it was revoked following a heated exchange with Trump; the White House later restored the pass and CNN dropped that suit, according to Fortune. Ted Boutrous, the First Amendment attorney who represented CNN in that case, has been retained by CNN, MS NOW and Politico for the current lawsuit, according to CNN Wire.
The lawsuits add legal exposure to Trump's stated plan to restrict news outlets' White House access, but they carry limited market impact given the current backdrop. Energy prices, shifts in Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan policy, and tariff threats remain the active drivers moving markets this week, with media litigation subordinate to those pressures.