Jonathan Roman | Staff Writer
A Judge has ruled that White House must give press access back to CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists, after President Donald Trump banned the news outlets from the White House grounds on Sep 19.
The decision came at 1 AM ET, on Sep 24 landing a major blow to the Trump administration. The judge issued a 14-day temporary restraining order, allowing journalists back into the WH. During the morning hours, the journalists from the networks tried to enter the WH grounds, yet they were still denied access.
The journalists attempted to enter the WH grounds and were turned away once again. CNN and Politico journalists had their hard press pass seized by secretive service agents as they attempted to enter.
After the Trump administration defied the order throughout the morning, the news networks filed an emergency hearing with the Judge.
At the final moments, 28 minutes before the emergency hearing CNN and MS Now journalists were allowed back into the White House.
The news comes as President Xi Jinping of China arrives at the White House for a state visit with no White House Press pool. CNN was scheduled to record video, and audio for all the major networks, but after the ban they were not listed as the pool.
Since major networks including ABC, FOX News, NBC, CBS, etc have declined to fill in the rule of CNN leaving for the first time in modern history there is no pool with the President. Meaning Xi Jinping’s visit to the US came with no American media coverage.
The irony of this unprecedented moment is the communist Chinese state run media is allowed on the White House grounds, and the American press was banned.
The White House Correspondents Association President Jacqui Heinrich of FOX News said:
“The president said it plainly in the Oval Office, describing his own planned action as a “ban on the free press.” The Constitution protects the freedom of the press from government interference. That protection does not depend on whether the president likes a news organization’s coverage, agrees with its reporting, or approves of the questions its journalists ask.
This is about more than the rights of journalists. It is about the right of the American people to receive a full and independent account of the activities, policies and decisions of whoever occupies the nation’s highest office. The WHCA stands in defense of our colleagues at CNN, MSNOW, and POLITICO who are being singled out for doing their jobs.”
Jacqui Heinrich, WHCA President.
In the afternoon CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were all given back access to the White House grounds and allowed to report on the campus.
WH Press Shop director Micah Stopperich said that press badges for the journalists from the three news outlets were reactivated.
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