Less than half an hour before midnight on Tuesday, the Trump Justice Department filed a legal brief defending the ban of CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House.
The government invoked the phrase “national security” 32 times in the brief, suddenly revising Donald Trump’s previous position that he revoked press credentials because of “fake news” and “negative stories.”
During a roughly half-hour conversation, Andrew Weissmann and I discussed why Trump keeps “talismanically” invoking national security. It worked for Trump before in the East Wing ballroom litigation and allowed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to continue imposing draconian restrictions on Pentagon press credentials.
As Trump himself acknowledges, it’s unlikely to work this afternoon in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who previously restored Jim Acosta’s press credentials in 2018.
Judge Kelly scheduled a hearing today at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time to determine whether to issue a temporary restraining order blocking Trump’s ban of the news organizations as a likely violation of the First and Fifth Amendments.
Here is the public access line to connect:
Toll-free phone line: 833-990-9400
Meeting ID #: 433360750.
Watch the full video of our discussion at the top of this newsletter, featuring information about the latest in the case — and the background of the “Mein Kampf”-admiring Justice Department attorney defending Trump’s ban.
