Federal Judge Trevor McFadden issued an order on Tuesday granting a preliminary injunction and ordering the White House to immediately rescind its denial of access to press events by Associated Press reporters.
About two months ago, President Donald Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. The Associated Press did not follow suit. For that editorial choice, the White House sharply curtailed the AP’s access to coveted, tightly controlled media events with the President. The AP now sues the White House chief of staff, her communications deputy, and the press secretary (collectively, “the Government”), seeking a preliminary injunction enjoining the Government from excluding it because of its viewpoint.
Today, the Court grants that relief.
…the Court simply holds that under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists—be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere—it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints. The Constitution requires no less.”
McFadden was nominated to the District Court for the District of Columbia in 2017 by President Trump during his first term in office.
Judge McFadden found strong legal precedent for the view that access restrictions must be reasonable and not viewpoint based.
“So while the AP does not have a constitutional right to enter the Oval Office, it does have a right to not be excluded because of its
viewpoint. And the AP says that is exactly what is happening,” the order found.
The judge’s order requires the defendants to “immediately rescind the denial of the AP’s access to the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other limited spaces based on the AP’s viewpoint when such spaces are made open to other members of the White House press pool,” as well as to events that are open to “all credentialed White House journalists.”
The full 41-page order follows. It is definitely worth at least skimming the sections on the history of the First Amendment and freedom of the press, as well as the discussion of how the White House press corps works.
Order for Preliminary Injunction, Associated Press v. Taylor Budowich by Ian Lind
Discover more from i L i n d
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Thank you on focus on Trumps unconstitutional actions. Trump must be impeached now! What would your investigative skills suggest as the process for Impeachment? There can be no delay.
He was already impeached, twice.