The White House said on Thursday it has reinstated journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico after a federal judge deemed US President Donald Trump’s ban of the three news outlets likely unconstitutional and ordered their access immediately restored.
The midday reinstatement came after a chaotic few hours earlier on Thursday when the journalists continued to be blocked from entering the White House grounds. That prompted the three news organisations to request an immediate hearing before US District Judge Tim Kelly, who issued his decision overnight.
Kelly, acting in a lawsuit brought by CNN, MS NOW and Politico on Monday, ordered a halt to Trump’s ban for 14 days in a press freedom case that has played out over the past week in the courtroom and White House grounds.
Kelly found that the revocation of the White House credentials of the journalists “likely violated their constitutional due process rights.”
