U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly has delayed a ruling on whether the White House should be be forced, temporarily or permanently, to return to CNN correspondent Jim Acosta a hard pass that allows him to report from the White House grounds.
Kelly had said in a hearing Wednesday that he would render the decision the following day, but it has been postponed until Friday.
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CNN argued in court Wednesday that the White House had discriminated against CNN correspondent Jim Acosta by suspending his hard pass, which allows him access to the White House grounds for reporting.
The Justice Department, representing the White House, rebutted the claim, saying that President Trump has complete discretion in which journalists are credentialed to be on the White House premise.
Theodore Boutrous, the lead lawyer for CNN, had asked the court for a preliminary decision that would force the White House to give Acosta his pass back until they can reconvene for a fuller ruling on whether the White House had violated the law.
Much of CNN’s case rested on a 1977 federal court case, Sherrill v. Knight, which ruled the Secret Service is required to have an official process for granting hard passes to reporters and that reporters who have their passes denied or revoked have to be given a reason why and a chance to appeal.
The Justice Department’s lead counsel, James Burnham, argued that the ruling merely granted journalists more “process,” but did not give reporters the right to have access to the White House.
CNN filed its lawsuit on Tuesday, alleging that the White House violated the First Amendment when it suspended Acosta’s hard press pass.
“This morning, CNN filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in DC District Court,” CNN’s top executive, Jeff Zucker, had said in a statement. “The White House has violated CNN and Jim Acosta’s First Amendment rights of freedom of the press and Fifth Amendment rights to due process. We are demanding the immediate return of Jim’s White House credential.”
The lawsuit names a Secret Service agent “John Doe” as a defendant for allegedly having blocked Acosta’s access to the White House grounds.
The White House said last week that it was indefinitely suspending Acosta’s credentials after a heated exchange between him and Trump at a press conference. After Acosta was called on to ask a question, Trump attempted to move on to another reporter, but Acosta initially refused to relinquish the microphone to a White House intern.
