US JUDGE UPHOLDS TRUMP’S AP BAN FROM OVAL OFFICE- Judge Trevor dismissed the Associated Press request for restoring full access to White House
A federal judge on Monday dismissed a request by the Associated Press to restore full access for the news agency’s journalists after being barred by President Donald Trump from the White House.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, dismissed AP’s request for a temporary injunction restoring its access to the Oval Office, Air Force One and events held at the White House.
McFadden said the restriction on “more private areas” used by the president was different from prior instances in which courts have blocked government officials from revoking access to journalists.
The AP in a lawsuit argued that the decision to block its reporters from certain locations violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protections against government abridgment of speech
However, lawyers for the Trump administration argued in a court filing before the hearing that the AP does not have a constitutional right to what they called “special media access to the president.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung in an earlier statement had called the AP lawsuit a “blatant PR stunt.”
