{"id":164611,"date":"2026-10-08T13:33:56","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T21:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/10\/08\/trump-appointee-signals-trumps-press-ban-is-toast-thanks-mostly-to-trump\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T13:33:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T21:33:56","slug":"trump-appointee-signals-trumps-press-ban-is-toast-thanks-mostly-to-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/10\/08\/trump-appointee-signals-trumps-press-ban-is-toast-thanks-mostly-to-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Appointee Signals Trump\u2019s Press Ban Is Toast, Thanks Mostly To Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly (a Trump appointee, a fact the president himself has been lamenting since the beginning) looks ready to keep his order blocking Trump\u2019s ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico in place for the long haul. As reported by<\/a> Politico, at a hearing today, Kelly made clear that the Justice Department\u2019s effort to recast the ban as a national security measure isn\u2019t getting very far.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s an uphill climb,\u201d Kelly said of the DOJ\u2019s national security defense, noting Trump\u2019s claim that his ban was based on his disapproval of the outlets\u2019 coverage.<\/p>\n

Well, about that.<\/p>\n

Like so many DOJ lawyers before them, the attorneys defending this ban walked into court with a legal theory the president has been busy demolishing in public. Trump didn\u2019t announce the ban by citing classified leaks, he announced it on Truth Social by complaining that the outlets \u201cshouldn\u2019t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES.\u201d When the case landed in Kelly\u2019s courtroom, Trump grumbled that the judge was \u201csadly, appointed by \u2018TRUMP’\u201d and predicted a loss. National security came later, along with a whole lot of talking points<\/a>, apparently once someone at Main Justice realized \u201cI don\u2019t like what they write about me\u201d is not a winning brief.<\/p>\n

Gibson Dunn\u2019s Theodore Boutrous Jr., representing the outlets, urged Kelly to strike down the ban on a second ground too: it violates the news organizations\u2019 First Amendment rights and is an effort to chill the free press. Boutrous argued that a recent interview Trump gave to Time magazine<\/a> \u201camounts to a confession\u201d that the president revoked the journalists\u2019 press passes because he considered their stories too negative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat interview really is the coup de grace,\u201d Boutrous said.<\/p>\n

He also noted Attorney General Todd Blanche\u2019s comments saying Trump banned the outlets from the White House over their \u201cone-sided reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, the president said it was about the coverage, the attorney general echoed that. The only people in America still insisting it\u2019s about national security are the government lawyers paid to say so in court. Back in September, Boutrous called Trump the plaintiffs\u2019 \u201clead witness<\/a>,\u201d and you know what, folks? That lead witness has not stopped testifying.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s due process, which is where the government\u2019s case goes from shaky to something worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s probably the biggest hurdle you all have,\u201d Kelly told the government.<\/p>\n

Justice Department lawyer Michael Velchik argued that the administration had, in fact, provided the outlets due process\u2026 after the ban went into effect. His evidence? Unsigned letters from the White House press office, delivered in the days after the lawsuit was filed, flagging a handful of stories the administration considered \u201cmisinformation\u201d or \u201cnational security\u201d risks. According to Velchik, the outlets \u201cdefaulted\u201d by failing to respond.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s\u2026 not how any of this is supposed to work. Velchik also repeatedly attributed the letters to Trump himself, even though they were unsigned and Trump never mentioned them publicly. Boutrous called the whole after-the-fact effort a \u201csham process,\u201d emphasizing that nothing suggests Trump signed off on the letters or even knew they existed.<\/p>\n

Listen, Kelly already sent one Trump White House back to the drawing board<\/a> over Jim Acosta\u2019s press pass in 2018, and if the DOJ wants this sequel to end differently, maybe it should start by asking its client to stop giving interviews.<\/p>\n

Earlier:<\/strong> Trump Banned Three News Outlets And Handed Gibson Dunn A Sequel It Already Knows How To Win<\/a>
The White House Has A Whole Lot Of Talking Points And Not A Lot Of Case Law<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Trump Appointee Signals Trump\u2019s Press Ban Is Toast, Thanks Mostly To Trump<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(Image via ChatGPT)\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly (a Trump appointee, a fact the president himself has been lamenting since the beginning) looks ready to keep his order blocking Trump\u2019s ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico in place for the long haul. As reported by<\/a> Politico, at a hearing today, Kelly made clear that the Justice Department\u2019s effort to recast the ban as a national security measure isn\u2019t getting very far.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s an uphill climb,\u201d Kelly said of the DOJ\u2019s national security defense, noting Trump\u2019s claim that his ban was based on his disapproval of the outlets\u2019 coverage.<\/p>\n

Well, about that.<\/p>\n

Like so many DOJ lawyers before them, the attorneys defending this ban walked into court with a legal theory the president has been busy demolishing in public. Trump didn\u2019t announce the ban by citing classified leaks, he announced it on Truth Social by complaining that the outlets \u201cshouldn\u2019t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES.\u201d When the case landed in Kelly\u2019s courtroom, Trump grumbled that the judge was \u201csadly, appointed by \u2018TRUMP’\u201d and predicted a loss. National security came later, along with a whole lot of talking points<\/a>, apparently once someone at Main Justice realized \u201cI don\u2019t like what they write about me\u201d is not a winning brief.<\/p>\n

Gibson Dunn\u2019s Theodore Boutrous Jr., representing the outlets, urged Kelly to strike down the ban on a second ground too: it violates the news organizations\u2019 First Amendment rights and is an effort to chill the free press. Boutrous argued that a recent interview Trump gave to Time magazine<\/a> \u201camounts to a confession\u201d that the president revoked the journalists\u2019 press passes because he considered their stories too negative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat interview really is the coup de grace,\u201d Boutrous said.<\/p>\n

He also noted Attorney General Todd Blanche\u2019s comments saying Trump banned the outlets from the White House over their \u201cone-sided reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, the president said it was about the coverage, the attorney general echoed that. The only people in America still insisting it\u2019s about national security are the government lawyers paid to say so in court. Back in September, Boutrous called Trump the plaintiffs\u2019 \u201clead witness<\/a>,\u201d and you know what, folks? That lead witness has not stopped testifying.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s due process, which is where the government\u2019s case goes from shaky to something worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s probably the biggest hurdle you all have,\u201d Kelly told the government.<\/p>\n

Justice Department lawyer Michael Velchik argued that the administration had, in fact, provided the outlets due process\u2026 after the ban went into effect. His evidence? Unsigned letters from the White House press office, delivered in the days after the lawsuit was filed, flagging a handful of stories the administration considered \u201cmisinformation\u201d or \u201cnational security\u201d risks. According to Velchik, the outlets \u201cdefaulted\u201d by failing to respond.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s\u2026 not how any of this is supposed to work. Velchik also repeatedly attributed the letters to Trump himself, even though they were unsigned and Trump never mentioned them publicly. Boutrous called the whole after-the-fact effort a \u201csham process,\u201d emphasizing that nothing suggests Trump signed off on the letters or even knew they existed.<\/p>\n

Listen, Kelly already sent one Trump White House back to the drawing board<\/a> over Jim Acosta\u2019s press pass in 2018, and if the DOJ wants this sequel to end differently, maybe it should start by asking its client to stop giving interviews.<\/p>\n

Earlier:<\/strong> Trump Banned Three News Outlets And Handed Gibson Dunn A Sequel It Already Knows How To Win<\/a>
The White House Has A Whole Lot Of Talking Points And Not A Lot Of Case Law<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly (a Trump appointee, a fact the president himself has been lamenting since the beginning) looks ready to keep his order blocking Trump\u2019s ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico in place for the long haul. As reported by Politico, at a hearing today, Kelly made clear that the Justice Department\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":164602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}