CNN has won the first round of its legal battle to get correspondent Jim Acosta back in the White House.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly granted the cable news network's request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction Friday that restored Acosta's White House press credential. He will later rule on CNN's claim that the revocation of the journalist's pass was unconstitutional.
The ruling followed a court hearing held Wednesday in Washington, where lawyers for CNN and the White House faced off over the issue of press access.
Acosta's press credential was revoked by the White House on Nov. 7 after a testy exchange with President Donald Trump at a White House press conference. At one point, Acosta refused to relinquish the microphone to a White House aide who tried to retrieve it from him. It was the latest in a series of public confrontations between Acosta and Trump, who has repeatedly characterized CNN's critical coverage of him as "fake news" since the 2016 presidential campaign.
CNN's suit filed Tuesday says the suspension of Acosta's credential violates the 1st Amendment's protection of free speech. It also says the way the administration revoked the pass, with no direct notice to Acosta or a written explanation detailing the decision, violated the 5th Amendment's protection of due process and the federal Administrative Procedures Act.
"This severe and unprecedented punishment is the culmination of years of hostility by President Trump against CNN and Acosta based on the contents of their reporting _ an unabashed attempt to censor the press and exclude reporters from the White House who challenge and dispute the President's point of view," the suit says.
Responding to the CNN suit, lawyers for the White House said the Trump administration had broad discretion to regulate access to journalists and other members of the public.
"If the president wants to exclude all reporters from the White House grounds, he has the authority to do that," Deputy Assistant Attorney General James Burnham said during the hearing. "There's no 1st Amendment right."
CNN's suit received the support of more than a dozen news organizations including Fox News, where commentators have often echoed President Trump's criticisms of the network's coverage.
Rival news organizations came to the defense of Fox News in 2009 when the Obama administration attempted to exclude its reporters from interviews with officials that were offered to all other outlets.
Fox News commentators were Barack Obama's harshest critics during the former president's eight years in office and he often complained about it in public and private. But the press credentials for its conservative leaning network were never revoked.
Fox News, the Washington Post, NBC News, The Associated Press and The Los Angeles Times are among the entities that have said they will file amicus briefs on behalf of CNN.
