There is one more judicial loss for Donald Trump to chalk up.
As predicted, Judge Timothy J. Kelly for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled against Trump‘s tantrum-like efforts to exile three media companies — CNN, MSNOW and Politico — from the White House.
He issued a temporary restraining order on the basis that their due process rights were very likely violated because they were not given prior notice and an opportunity to defend themselves before their credentials were revoked, a classic violation of due process.
Editor’s Note: Journalists from CNN, Politico and MS NOW were denied entrance to the White House press room this morning, but are being allowed back inside in a sudden turn for Trump, who was facing an emergency court hearing and possible contempt charges. Trump has vowed to appeal the decision, though temporary restraining orders (TROs) are generally unappealable.
Yes, the judge wrote, the White House did send letters to the media attempting to identify the so-called objectionable reporting that Trump claimed cost them access. But it came after he had already acted to revoke their access and Judge Kelly wrote it, “is so vague it hardly does the trick.”
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And, even after some of the cited objectionable stories were published a while back, the credentials of the reporters that wrote these stories were renewed.
As an afterthought, Trump mentioned as a cause, in addition to the fact that he did not like the stories they wrote, they had endangered national security, as if that talismanic use of the term would legalize his violations of the rule of law and the Constitution.
Judge Kelly found no evidence in the record of the national security being endangered, meaning that the government failed to back up its claims because its claims were fabricated.
As to the due process arguments raised by the plaintiffs, the best the government lawyers could do was to lamely allege that the appellate decisions that the plaintiff relied on were “improperly decided.” The court wrote it was bound to follow those decisions.
Good for Judge Kelly, a Trump appointee, although he did not reach the First Amendment claims because he did not have to.
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He also declined to stay his order, pending an appeal by the government. Doing so he wrote would run contrary to the purpose of a TRO which is to preserve the last uncontested status quo.
Trump simply lashed out at the media in a fit of pique. Perhaps, he was having a bad day.
But he did deny them due process; he tossed them from the People’s House because he did not like their coverage of him and his administration.
Had the court reached the First Amendment issues no doubt it would have found viewpoint discrimination.
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Shame on Attorney General Todd Blanche for even defending Trump’s un-defendable position instead of telling Trump that he was wrong and that he would lose this case.
Blanche is Trump’s lap dog and Trump never does anything wrong. So here we are we had another embarrassing effort on the part of the White House’s occupant to trash the rule of law.
Jim Astrachan is lawyer who represents clients in intellectual property law and litigation, mediation, and business, regulatory, and transactional matters. He’s a Life Fellow of the Baltimore City Bar Foundation, the Maryland Bar Foundation, and the American Bar Foundation.