U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly issued a ruling in the early morning hours of Thursday reinstating reporters banned from covering the White House. But when reporters came to work on Thursday morning, the Secret Service refused to turn over their passes. An emergency hearing was then called.
Speaking to CNN, legal analyst and former assistant U.S. Attorney Elie Honig was asked if this means that the White House is breaking the law.
“Well, they’re absolutely in defiance of the judge’s order,” Honig said. “The big question is, is that the result of something that’s just sloppy and unintentional, or is that intentional in every minute that passes? It is now 10:08 A.M. [It] makes the latter more likely — that it’s intentional.”
He commented about White House correspondent Betsy Klein, one of the reporters whose passes were taken by the Secret Service, who was speaking outside of the White House as the show began. She said “numerous times” that she has tried to go through and continues to be denied.
“Now it is the exact right move to do what the lawyers for CNN, MS NOW and Politico have done to request an emergency hearing, and I expect the judge will grant that,” said Honig. “And by the way, they don’t even have to take the time of physically getting everyone into the courtroom. The judge can convene a hearing like this by phone or by Zoom.”
Honig continued, saying that he assumes that a few things are likely to be brought up as the incident unfolds: “No. 1, if one of the positions that the administration takes is, ‘Well, we disagree with the judge’s ruling, and we intend to appeal.’ Fine. You can appeal. And if you win, if you can get the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to undo what the judge did last night, then you can deny the past.”
Right now, however, the judge’s order was absolute. The White House must restore the outlets’ credentials.
“That is the state of the law right now. So, we’ll see what the administration says when they go in there. And by the way, just a quick word to the wise here. Anyone who’s going to go into that court or attend that hearing on behalf of the Justice Department and the government needs to be really careful, because if you lie to a court, mislead a court, or are part of defiance of a court, you’re putting your own professional future in jeopardy,” Honig warned.
He said that it isn’t merely about being held in contempt of court, there’s much more.
“That could lead to bar consequences down the line. So, I think if you’re a lawyer in the position of having to represent the government here, you need to show up for this hearing. You need to be candid, and you cannot be any part of willfully defying the court’s orders,” he advised.