White House Press Ban Challenged in Court: Judge Questions Exclusion of AP
White House Press Ban Challenged in Court: Judge Questions Exclusion of AP

A U.S. District Judge has pressed both sides in a lawsuit filed by The Associated Press, challenging a White House ban that the news organization argues violates its First Amendment rights. The ban reportedly began gradually two weeks prior to the hearing.
During arguments, Judge Trevor N. McFadden questioned the composition of the White House Correspondents’ Association press pool and why the government should be bound by a private organization’s choices. He also challenged AP’s reliance on its long-standing membership, asking if the current administration was bound by precedents from past presidencies.
However, Judge McFadden noted that the White House itself tasked the correspondents’ group with selecting pool members. He found it ‘problematic’ that the White House, having accepted the association as the ‘referee,’ then allegedly discriminated against one organization. McFadden later warned the government’s attorney to reconsider their position, citing that ‘case law in this circuit is uniformly unhelpful to the White House.’
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