And there it is. . .
A D.C. District Court judge ordered the White House to give Brian Karem back his press pass:
Breaking: Just received word from D.C. District Court that our TRO has been granted and the WH must restore my press pass immediately. @realDonaldTrump
— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) September 3, 2019
From the ruling:
>>”Karem has shown that even the temporary suspension of his pass inflicts irreparable harm on his First Amendment rights," US District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras wrote in his opinion.<< https://t.co/ccgYKYPIaa
— Staci D Kramer (@sdkstl) September 4, 2019
Karem’s attorney, Ted Boutros, was also the lawyer that got Jim Acosta back his press pass:
For those keeping score at home, it’s @BoutrousTed 2, @PressSec 0.
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) September 3, 2019
He seems happy:
God bless the Constitution, free speech, due process and @BoutrousTed and his great legal team. pic.twitter.com/MaYjSzh2IY
— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) September 3, 2019
But the judge didn’t buy Karem’s BS, however. Via Politico:
U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras sounded disapproving of Karem’s conduct and disbelieving of the journalist’s claim that he was simply issuing an invitation to chat when he said to Gorka: “Come on over here and talk to me, brother, or we can go outside and have a long conversation.”
Contreras called “less than credible” Karem’s claim the remark was an invitation to appear on his podcast.
And as CNN’s Brian Stelter notes, the White House Correspondent’s Association did send a warning to Karem to behave himself. Well, kind of:
Karem’s case has put the WHCA in a tricky situation. On one hand, the organization obviously wants to forcefully defend access to the White House. On the other hand, it probably doesn’t want to endorse the behavior Karem displayed in the Rose Garden. That tension played out in the statement the group released Tuesday.
“The WHCA is gratified the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia acted to uphold the due process rights of one of our members,” WHCA President Jon Karl said. “The WHCA will continue to advocate for the rights of our members and against actions by the government that would have a chilling effect on journalism protected by the First Amendment.” But Karl added, “As we have said repeatedly, we believe everyone should conduct themselves professionally at the White House.”
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Related:
STILL spinning? Playboy reporter Brian Karem invokes Sam Donaldson & Helen Thomas in demanding return of WH press pass https://t.co/Kjf4frsgWT
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 2, 2019
Playboy reporter Brian Karem takes a page from Jim Acosta in announcing filing of lawsuit against Trump admin for WH suspension https://t.co/W97DsqhDzB
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 21, 2019
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