Judge Blocks Trump's White House Ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico

President Donald Trump announced on September 18 that he was banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, according to the court opinion published by Reason. The three news organizations challenged the ban in court.

The dispute involved the revocation of journalists' White House hard passes, according to CBS. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued an emergency order on September 24 blocking the ban, The Independent reported.

After the ban last month, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News suspended their participation in the television press pool in protest, Reason reported on October 12. That pool provides widely used video of presidential events. The suspension was temporary, according to NBC News.

On October 11, coverage revealed a separate Justice Department investigation into whether the networks' response violated federal antitrust laws. The five organizations under investigation are ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News, according to Deutsche Welle.

The department said it was examining possible violations of the Sherman Act, CNBC reported. A spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that "Group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act." That was the department's stated legal concern, not a finding that the networks had broken the law.

On October 13, Deadline Hollywood reported doubts among antitrust experts about whether the department had a case over the pool suspension.

In the ruling reported on October 14, Kelly issued a preliminary injunction extending the protection against the ban. ABC News reported that it followed his temporary restraining order last month. According to CBS, Kelly found that revoking the journalists' passes likely violated their First and Fifth Amendment rights.

The administration must continue granting CNN, MS NOW and Politico access to White House grounds while their lawsuit continues, according to Axios. The injunction prevents their exclusion until the case is decided, NBC News reported.

This is not a final judgment overturning the ban. It preserves access during the litigation. The New York Times also reported that the ruling does not resolve all of the outlets' access problems.

The next legal issue is whether the outlets ultimately succeed in their challenge to the ban. Kelly's finding that they are likely to prevail is the basis for interim protection, not the lawsuit's final outcome, according to Forbes.

The antitrust investigation is a separate unresolved matter. The Justice Department is examining the networks' temporary pool suspension, while the court case concerns the administration's exclusion of the three outlets, according to NPR.