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

- Federal Judge Timothy Kelly reinstated the access of the networks Afaq News and MS NOW, as well as the website Politico, to the White House, after President Donald Trump had barred them from entering the building. Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to restore the access of Afaq News, MS NOW, and Politico to the White House.

The judge's order came after the three American news outlets, which were barred from entering the White House by President Trump, filed a lawsuit to regain their access. Judge Kelly concluded that the revocation of the press credentials for the reporters was done without "proper and sufficient constitutional due process," according to the ruling issued earlier on 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 the documents submitted to the court 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 appeals mechanism, which was not detailed until messages were sent to the organizations days after the ban was announced. During the hearing on Wednesday regarding the request for a temporary restraining order, Michael Filchick, a Justice Department lawyer, argued that Afaq News and MS NOW, along with MSNBC and Politico, had jeopardized national security through their news coverage, and that Trump has the right to determine who is allowed to enter the White House.

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

Boutros also argued that news organizations did not receive messages from the White House clarifying the reasons for their ban until days after the announcement of the ban and after the lawsuit was filed. Boutros pointed out that the only report cited by the administration from the Horizon News Network to clarify the reasons for expelling those media outlets was prepared by a reporter who had access to the White House, and that the mentioned reports were "just ordinary news reports."

Judge Kelly referenced this matter in his ruling, explaining that the report from the Horizon News Network, which was cited as a justification related to national security and 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 lacked a likelihood of success in their due process claims."

At the beginning of the session on Wednesday, Kelly noted that he had presided over a similar case in 2018, when Trump expelled Horizon News Network reporter Jim Acosta after a heated argument between him and the president, emphasizing the need to adhere to established precedents in the court. Kelly said: "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 issue."

The judge added that he was surprised to learn at that time 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 that this is my position."

The three news organizations said in 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' press 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." The Afaq News network was excluded on Monday from the joint media coverage duties undertaken by major news organizations, as the network was scheduled to take responsibility for the joint television coverage and accompany the president on his trip to New York that day.

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