Trump banned three outlets from the White House. His own appointee, Judge Timothy Kelly, ordered them back in. Now they want the Oval Office too.
Read that again. A man appointed a judge. The judge ruled against him. The man appealed. Then the same three outlets showed up with a longer complaint. This is the most expensive group project in Washington.
The outlets say they are not demanding the moon. Their filing says they do not claim an unrestricted right to enter the Oval Office or fly on Air Force One. They only want in when other reporters get in. That is the legal equivalent of asking to sit at the lunch table after the cafeteria already let everyone else sit down.
The White House replied that the Fake News has no place demanding a spot in the Oval Office. Another official said that when publications lie, proximity matters less. Proximity to what? A desk? The desk is famous. It has been photographed.
Here is what the ban accomplished. CNN, MS NOW and Politico now have a preliminary injunction, a federal judge's skepticism about the national security excuse, and a bigger lawsuit. Trump lost the room and gained a docket. Somewhere a staffer calls that a win.
Consider the stakes. The prize is a seat in a small room where the president answers questions he has already answered. The pool reporter gets a tight space, a bad angle, and a sandwich on Air Force One if the weather holds. Three billion-dollar newsrooms are paying lawyers by the hour for that.
Retail traders will see this and ask if it moves the market. It does not. Nothing in the Oval Office moves anything but your blood pressure. Go back to drawing triangles on your chart.
The appeal continues. The lawyers keep billing. The judge Trump picked is now the most dangerous man in his press office.
Photo by David Everett Strickler on Unsplash
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