Justice Department asks court to let Trump reinstate White House press ban

The Justice Department has asked a federal court to let President Donald Trump put back in place his ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico at the White House. In a filing late Friday, government lawyers said Trump concluded the three networks had run stories harmful to national security, including material that may have been classified or sensitive. They argued that the outlets showed a willingness to publish damaging information, and that limiting their access to the White House cuts off one route for obtaining it, according to CNN · MS NOW.

The news organizations, which sued over the ban, take the opposite view. In their own filing Monday night, they said the stories Trump objected to were exactly the kind of journalism the Constitution's framers meant to shield. They described the ban as an "unlawful assault on the most fundamental First Amendment freedoms."

Judge Timothy Kelly is weighing whether to extend a two-week order that restored the outlets' access to the White House. That order lapses at the end of next week. Kelly has scheduled a hearing for Thursday on the outlets' request for a preliminary injunction, which would keep their access in place for a longer period while the lawsuit proceeds.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CNN · MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at CNN · MS NOW →