Last week, Judge Timothy Kelly issued a two-week temporary restraining order restoring the outlets' White House access. That order expires Oct. 8.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico are asking a federal court to block President Donald Trump’s White House media ban while their case proceeds, saying the administration has “persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban” despite a judge’s restraining order.
“The White House’s words and actions leave little doubt that it will immediately reinstitute a complete ban of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO if allowed the opportunity,” lawyers for the outlets wrote in a Monday filing reviewed by The Associated Press.
“Because the ban is an unlawful assault on the most fundamental First Amendment freedoms and will inflict irreparable harm on Plaintiffs and the public if not restrained, this Court should preliminarily enjoin its enforcement pending the resolution of this case,” the filing said.
Last week, Judge Timothy Kelly issued a two-week temporary restraining order restoring the outlets' White House access. That order expires Oct. 8. The preliminary injunction sought in Monday’s filing would keep the ban blocked until the case is resolved.
In a statement emailed to The Associated Press immediately after the filing, the outlets’ lead attorney called the ban “a blatant violation of the First Amendment and due process.”
“The president and his administration have continued to make clear that this ban has only one purpose: to punish reporting he doesn’t like,” Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. said.
That’s retaliation and viewpoint discrimination, pure and simple,” Boutrous said. “With the district court’s temporary restraining order expiring this week, it is critical to ensure that the White House continues to be prevented from implementing this unconstitutional ban on the free press.
The Trump administration has continued to defend the ban. Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday on ABC that White House access is “a privilege, and not a right.”
The outlets’ 42-page filing also pointed to the White House television pool, saying CNN was barred from serving as the designated pool network Sept. 26 despite the restraining order.
CNN was allowed to cover Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday but was excluded from Air Force One the next day for the president’s trip to a Tennessee college football game. The other broadcast networks declined to send a replacement in solidarity with CNN.
“The president has every right to decide who gets to fly on his plane,” Blanche said, calling what he described as misinformation a national security concern.
Kelly questioned that justification in last week’s ruling, writing that the court was skeptical national security was the administration’s real motivation for revoking access.
The new filing says CNN received no official explanation for its exclusion from Air Force One, leaving no primary television pool network to accompany Trump on the trip.
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Editor's note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.
