Judge Declines AP’s Request to Temporarily Lift White House Access Ban
US District Judge Trevor McFadden declined the Associated Press’s request to temporarily lift a ban against the wire service from the White House.
However, McFaddon scheduled a hearing on March 20 where the AP can present arguments “for a preliminary injunction.” More from CNN:
McFadden gave a number of reasons for why he decided to deny the request for emergency relief at this stage in the litigation, including that he wasn’t persuaded that the AP was facing “irreparable harm” as a result of the ban.He said the news organization “can get access to the same information” from the pool notes that are given to all members of the White House Correspondents Association even if it’s barred from being at the events where that news is made.And he said the organization’s delay in bringing its lawsuit were evidence that it wasn’t being injured in a way that necessitated his intervention more than a week after the White House instituted the ban.During the hearing, however, the judge appeared somewhat skeptical of the legality of the ban, describing it at one point as “discriminatory” and “problematic.”And while he repeatedly seemed confused by how the pool is set up, at one point he said that the White House “has accepted the White House Correspondent Association’s ability to be the referee here.”
The ban restricts the AP’s access to the Oval Office and Air Force One.
The Associated Press sued three officials in President Donald Trump’s staff, claiming the ban violates the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
The White House insists the AP doesn’t have a right to attend certain events just because it “may have long received special media access to the president does not mean that such access is constitutionally compelled in perpetuity.”
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