Three news outlets that President Donald Trump abruptly banished from White House grounds this month asked a federal court to block the ban until the case is resolved, saying the administration has "persisted in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing its ban" despite a judge's restraining order — including selectively barring CNN from White House pool duties."The White House's words and actions leave little doubt that it will immediately reinstitute a complete ban of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO if allowed the opportunity," lawyers for CNN, MS NOW and Politico wrote in a filing late Monday."Because the ban is an unlawful assault on the most fundamental First Amendment freedoms and will inflict irreparable harm on Plaintiffs and the public if not restrained, this Court should preliminarily enjoin its enforcement pending the resolution of this case," the filing said.It was the latest development in the back-and-forth saga of the Trump administration and the news media during the second term of his presidency.It has been a contentious relationship that has raised multiple First Amendment questions, produced sanctions and restrictions on White House and Pentagon reporters and led to several lawsuits that are winding their ways through the federal court system.A two-week temporary restraining order on Trump's ban of the three organizations, issued by U.S.
District Judge Timothy Kelly last week, restored the outlets' White House access, but expires Oct.8.
The preliminary injunction requested in Monday's filing would extend the White House access until the case is finally resolved.In a statement emailed to The Associated Press immediately after the filing, the lead attorney for the three news outlets called the ban "a blatant violation of the First Amendment and due process.""The president and his administration have continued to make clear that this ban has only one purpose: to punish reporting he doesn't like," said the lawyer, Theodore J.Boutrous Jr."That's ret...