Trump Ban Temporarily Blocked By Judge; Media Credentials Must Be Restored

The Trump administration must restore press credentials for staffers at CNN, Politico and MS NOW, a federal judge ruled early Thursday morning, delivering a rebuke to the president’s efforts to ban the outlets from the White House grounds.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly granted a temporary restraining order to the media outlets, after they sued Trump and other top administration officials, claiming violations of the First and Fifth amendments. The temporary order is set for a duration of 14 days. Generally, such orders are given to allow the court to consider a case more thoroughly.

Although Trump has sought to revoke credentials of individual reporters, his latest ban was a sweeping effort to punish the media for negative reporting on him. Although the government later claimed national security concerns, attorneys for the networks said that was a post-ban rationalization, violating their due process rights.

More to come.