WASHINGTON – Even President Donald Trump expects a federal judge he appointed to rule against him banning three news outlets from the White House grounds.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly in Washington, DC, previously ruled against the Trump administration revoking the press credentials for Jim Acosta, who was then CNN’s chief White House correspondent.
Trump on Sept. 18 revoked credentials for CNN, MS NOW and Politico. The three organizations continue to cover the administration and filed a lawsuit asking Kelly to restore their credentials.
The case could become a key First Amendment decision in determining who gets access to the White House if a president is unhappy with news coverage. Other broadcast networks have refused to travel with Trump
and share video of his trip to the United Nations in solidarity with CNN.
Trump contends he can pick and choose who is allowed on the grounds to protect national security and discourage allegedly inaccurate reporting. But the news outlets argue that barring them while others are allowed – based on what they report – violates the First Amendment and that they weren’t given a chance to fight the ban administratively.
In the Acosta case, Kelly ruled from the bench in November 2018 that the White House violated his Fifth Amendment right to due process by suspending his press credential without explanation or a chance for CNN to appeal the decision. A few days later, CNN dropped the lawsuit because Acosta’s credentials had been restored.
Trump had appointed Kelly to become a judge during his first term, in September 2017. Kelly had served for four years as chief counsel for national security to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, as head of the Judiciary Committee.
Kelly previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in DC and later joined the Justice Department’s public integrity section prosecuting corruption cases.
Trump has changed his tune on Kelly. Trump acknowledged to reporters in New York on Sept. 22 that he expected Kelly to rule against him.
"This is a judge who is not a particularly fair judge," Trump said. "But I’m talking about national security. I think we have a right to clean out fake news, you know?"
Trump had said on social media Sept. 21 that he would appeal Kelly’s decision, if it goes against him.
Acosta told C-Span on Sept. 19 that he expected Trump to lose again.
"Donald Trump is going to find himself in the same position again," Acosta said. "No judge is going to say that you can throw news organizations out of the White House."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump faces same judge in White House ban who sided with CNN in 2018
