10:35am EST
WASHINGTON( Blue Press Journal) — CNN, MS NOW and Politico have filed for an emergency hearing on Thursday morning, accusing the Trump administration of blatantly defying a court order to allow their journalists into the White House.
The networks say that reporters were again blocked from entering the White House on Thursday, even though a judge ruled last week that they should be given back their White House press credentials.
The networks’ lawyers say they tried to contact the Justice Department this morning and ask them about the issue, but were ignored.
Counsel for Plaintiffs reached out to counsel for Defendants this morning and requested to call the Court together. Counsel for Defendants has not responded. Defendants have already repeatedly violated the Court’s Order. Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court set a hearing by videoconference or teleconference this morning, as soon as possible.
The White House has not responded to the emergency request, but the latest standoff happened when journalists from all three networks were blocked from entering the White House this morning, with only one CNN producer allowed in. The networks are asking in their request to the Court why exactly one CNN producer was allowed in, but others not.
The networks are accusing the White House of willfully defying the court’s order to allow their journalists back in the White House. Last week, the White House began banning reporters from the White House, which publishers said was a First Amendment problem. However, a judge sided with the publishers, requiring the White House to reinstate CNN, MS NOW and Politico’s White House press credentials. The networks are now accusing the Trump administration of ignoring the court. It remains unclear if the administration would actually ignore the court, or if the networks are just being overly cautious.
The networks are requesting that the administration comply with the court’s order, and are seeking to get immediate answers as to the statuses of their White House correspondents.
The White House and the Justice Department have not commented publicly about the morning’s events or the networks’ request for an emergency hearing.
Will update the story as events change.
