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CNN, MS NOW and Politico were allowed back into the White House on Thursday following a federal judge’s order that the journalists have their access restored.
District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled that revoking the White House press credentials of the three media outlets “likely violated their constitutional due process rights.”
“The ‘general rule’ is that ‘individuals must receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before the Government deprives them’ of a constitutionally protected interest,” the judge said.
The three US outlets had been banned by US President Donald Trump from reporting from the White House for six days. They attempted to return to the White House early Thursday ahead of a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, but were initially turned away by the Secret Service.
But despite regaining access to the complex earlier in the day, CNN reported later Thursday that the White House had “denied two CNN journalists from covering Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s arrival back at the White House for a state dinner.”
The cable network reported that MS NOW journalists were also denied access to the arrival.
On a high-profile day when Xi was visiting Washington and attending a state dinner, no major American network was airing live coverage.
After the White House banned CNN from a rotation of five major US broadcast outlets who take turns shooting and sharing video, the other four — in a show of solidarity — were still declining to participate in the so-called video pool.
The White House Press Office accused CNN in a letter to the cable news outlet of “trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues, and publishing sensitive or classified information,” with similar accusations levelled against MS NOW and Politico.
The letter to CNN cited several stories about the US-Iran war and a story on Trump’s plans to build a military bunker below the planned East Wing ballroom which allegedly “disclosed ‘top-secret’ construction details.”