White House claims right to exclude 'grandstanding' Acosta

President Donald Trump's admin Jim Acosta's White House "hard pass."

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly heard arguments Wednesday afternoon from the CNN and the Justice Department. The news network is seeking an immediate restraining order that would force the White House to return Acosta's press credentials – which grant reporters as-needed access to the 18-acre complex.

Kelly said he would announce his decision Thursday afternoon.

Acosta has repeatedly been with Sarah Huckabee Sanders in briefings over the last two years. But the dynamic devolved into a near-shouting match during a battle of the house of the House of Representatives.

Acosta refused to give up a microphone when the president said he did not want to hear anything more from him. Trump called Acosta has "tough, terrible person."

The White House quickly announced that Acosta's White House access would be revoked.

The CNN's lawsuit calls the revocation "an unabashed attempt to censor the press and exclude reporters from the White House who challenge and dispute the President's point of view."

The Associated Press joined a group of 12 other news organizations, including Fox News, in brief and amicus brief Wednesday in support of CNN.

"Secret Service passes for working White House Journalists should never be weaponized," said Fox News President Jay Wallace. "While we do not condone the growing antagonistic tone of the President and the press on recent media avails, we do support a free press, access and open exchange for the American people."

On Wednesday, Justice Department Lawyer James Burnham argued that it was a case of "inappropriate grandstanding" and that it was "out of order".

Burnham also pointed out that White House credentials, so excluding Acosta would not harm the network's coverage.

The network's lawyer, Theodore Boutrous, contends that Acosta was being singled out for his body of work, not his alleged rudeness during a press conference.

"The White House has made it clear that they are not content with CNN and Jim Acosta," Boutrous said. "Rudeness really is a code word for 'I do not like you being an aggressive reporter.'"

Prior to Wednesday 's hearing, the White House has had its "broad discretion" to regulate press access to the White House.

The President and his designees in the White House Press Office have exercised their discretion to him and to the White House complex so that he can attempt to interact with the President or White House officials. "

Trump Himself, in an interview published Wednesday, was uncertain how the fight would end, saying: "We'll see how the court rules .. Is it freedom of the press when somebody comes in and starts screaming questions and will not sit down ? "

Trump told The Daily Caller that "guys like Acosta" were "bad for the country. … He's just an average guy who's a grandstander who's got the guts to stand up and shout."

The White House 's explanations for why it' s gotten Acosta 's credentials have shifted over the last week. Sanders originally explained the decision by accusing Acosta of making improper physical contact with the microphone. But that is not enough, but it seems to me that it was just trying to keep the mic, and the Sanders were distributed more effectively than it actually was.

On Tuesday, Sanders accused Acosta of being unprofessional by trying to dominate the questioning at the news conference.

Both Sanders and Trump are named as defendants in the CNN, along with Chief of Staff John Kelly and Randolph Alles, director of the Secret Service.

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