Judge rules in favor of CNN and to restore press credentials of reporter Jim Acosta

a federal judge on friday ruled in favor of cnn and reporter jim acosta, who was reprimanded by the white house after a heated dispute with president donald trump during a press conference last week. the judge ordered the white house to restore the press credentials stripped from acosta.

judge timothy j. kelly, a trump appointee, granted cnn's motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent the trump administration from keeping acosta off white house grounds. acosta, cnn's chief white house correspondent, is the first reporter with a banned "hard pass." 

cnn sued trump and other white house officials on tuesday over the revocation. the network and government lawyers argued whether the president had the power to revoke a reporter's access. kelly agreed with the government: there was no first amendment right to come onto the grounds. but, he said once the white house opened the grounds to reporters, the first amendment was applicable.

kelly's ruling emphasized the white house's decision to ban acosta violates the fifth amendment, which guarantees due process in government actions. kelly said the white house's decision-making was "so shrouded in mystery that the government could not tell me...who made the decision."

cnn stated, "we are gratified with this result and we look forward to a full resolution in the coming days. our sincere thanks to all who have supported not just cnn, but a free, strong and independent press." acosta said, "i just want to thank all my colleagues in the press who supported me this week. i want to thank the judge for this ruling. and let's go back to work." 

trump said the white house will write rules to satisfy the court's due process concerns. trump also suggested his administration will continue to fight cnn legally. trump said, "we will end up back in court and we will win."