A U.S. federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to immediately reinstate CNN reporter Jim Acosta's credentials to cover the White House.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly announced his decision following a hearing in Washington. The judge said Acosta's credentials would be returned immediately and reactivated to allow him access to the White House.
CNN had asked the judge to force the White House to immediately hand back the credentials that give Acosta, CNN's chief White House correspondent, access to the complex for media briefings and other events. CNN asked for Acosta's credentials restored while a lawsuit over his credentials' revocation goes forward.
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The judge said the government could not say who initially decided to revoke Acosta's hard pass.
The White House had spelled out its reasons for revoking his credentials in a tweet from White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and in a statement after CNN filed its lawsuit. But the judge said those "belated efforts were hardly sufficient to satisfy due process."
The judge also found that Acosta suffered "irreparable harm," dismissing the government's argument that CNN could just send other reporters to cover the White House in Acosta's place.Good.
I've said before that Trump is in the process of doing generational damage to every institution within the United States, and to their place on the world stage, but no part of his selfish, short-sighted corruptness is as corrupting as his assaults on the very idea of verifiable facts, the existence of objective truth, and the necessity of a free press to the functioning of democracy. Trump may well be desperate to avoid scutiny and silence criticism, but he absolutely cannot be allowed to succeed in doing so. It's heartening to see that some of the checks and balances that are in place, precisely to keep bad Presidents in check, actually are working.
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