CNN, MS Now, and Politico sue Trump over White House access ban

President Donald Trump barred three news organizations from the White House on Friday, and by Monday they had sued him in federal court.

CNN, MS Now, and Politico filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing the ban violates the First Amendment and the constitutional guarantee of due process. The suit says the White House revoked the organizations' press credentials — which must be scanned at Secret Service screening — without notice or any formal procedure, and did so because the president objected to their reporting.

Trump announced the ban on social media, naming the three outlets and accusing them of "constant reporting FAKE NEWS." He called MS Now a rebrand of MSNBC and accused Politico of receiving an "$8 Million Dollar subscription" from the government under Joe Biden. "Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow," he wrote.

The next day, correspondents from all three organizations were turned away from the White House complex.

The lawsuit calls the ban "a direct assault on the First Amendment" and "a blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles." It argues the organizations have lost the ability to gather news at the seat of the executive branch, that the ban irreparably curtails their speech, and that it chills other outlets who now must weigh the risk of being banned against reporting the president dislikes.

The case was assigned to Judge Timothy J. Kelly, whom Trump nominated during his first term and the Senate confirmed in 2017 by a vote of 94-2. Kelly scheduled a videoconference hearing for Wednesday to consider whether to issue a temporary restraining order.

Trump defended the ban in a second social media post on Monday morning, writing that the White House was not assaulting a free press but "assaulting the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer." He called it a threat to national security.

The three outlets said in a joint statement that the suit was meant "to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes."

The White House press pool operates on a rotation system in which major news organizations take turns covering events the administration restricts to a small group of reporters. CNN was scheduled to serve as the television pool on Monday, but the White House press schedule listed no network in that role. The four other networks in the television pool — ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox News — declined to send a replacement crew, leaving the day's presidential events without pooled television coverage.