The gardian
A federal judge has ruled in favor of CNN and temporarily restored White House press access for reporter Jim Acosta, in a blow to the Trump administration.
CNN sued the White House this week to demand the immediate return of Acosta’s press credentials after his media pass was revoked following a high-profile press conference standoff with Donald Trump.
On Friday, US district judge Timothy Kelly ordered the White House to restore Acosta’s “hard pass” immediately. He warned that this was a temporary measure while the case continues, but said he found it likely that CNN would succeed in its claim that its fifth amendment rights to due process were violated.
Kelly also said White House press secretary Sarah Sanders’ initial statement on the reasons for revoking Acosta’s pass, were “likely untrue and at least partly based on evidence that was of questionable accuracy”.
Sanders’ initial statement said Acosta had been penalized for touching a White House intern after she attempted to remove his microphone.
Judge Kelly, a Trump appointee, did not address the first amendment’s protections for freedom of speech and the press on Friday, but instead focused on a due process provision of the US constitution that provides for fair treatment through a judicial or administrative process.
“Whatever process occurred within the government is still so shrouded in mystery that the government at oral argument could not tell me who made the initial decision to revoke Mr Acosta’s press pass,” Kelly said in his verbal ruling.
The White House said it would temporarily reinstate access for Acosta.
“We will also further develop rules and processes to ensure fair and orderly press conferences in the future,” Sanders said.
“We’re writing up rules and regulations,” Trump told reporters later in the day. “We have to practice decorum. We want total freedom of the press … we’re setting up a certain standard which is what the court is requesting.”
The cable news giant’s lawsuit against Trump and several of his senior aides marked a major escalation in the crisis of relations between Trump and what he calls “fake news” and the “enemy of the people”.
CNN has been at the center of Trump’s war against the “mainstream media”. Within that Acosta, CNN’s chief White House correspondent, has become target No 1.
In court, US government lawyers said there is no first amendment right of access to the White House and that Acosta was penalized for acting rudely at the conference and not for his criticisms of the president.
Kelly said despite Friday’s order, the case would continue.
“I want to emphasize the very limited nature of today’s ruling,” he said in the courtroom. “This doesn’t end the legal battle over Acosta’s access to the White House, it simply means that it is restored for now.”
CNN said in a statement it “looked forward to a full resolution in the coming days” and thanked “all who have supported not just CNN, but a free, strong and independent American press”.