In a court filing Friday night, the Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that the Trump administration should be able to reinstate its White House ban on news networks CNN, MS NOW, and Politico according to CNN.

The DOJ released a statement supporting the White House’s argument that these media companies published stories that were a national security risk and lacked the professionalism required to cover news on the White House grounds.

The DOJ, in its filing, said, according to CNN, “[T]he President determined that Plaintiff news networks had published stories that adversely affect national security, including publishing possibly classified or sensitive information. In doing so, these outlets each demonstrated their willingness to publish information that undermines national security. Restricting access to the White House removes one avenue for these outlets to obtain such harmful information.” 

The DOJ did not provide proof with its filing. They also said there was no requirement to prove the outlets published classified information.  According to CNN, the DOJ “leaned into the idea that spreading “misinformation” is itself a national security risk.”

Journalists lost their press badges, first having them deactivated and later confiscated. The badges were required to access the White House grounds to cover related events.

Kelly’s offered a two-week order that restored the outlets’ access to the White House. The judge will consider whether to extend those protections during next week’s hearing.

Trump announced the organization’s ban on the white house through a social media post. He cited stories about the Iran war, the East Wing Ballroom construction, and the GOP midterm convention as evidence.

Some people say this wasn’t due to any national security threat, but because the President didn’t like how they covered White House-related stories.

The news organizations filed a lawsuit against the White House, arguing that the Press Ban was unconstitutional and that the content in the stories Trump cited to justify the ban is protected under the First Amendment. The filing also alleges that the administration did not provide the news organizations with the due process required before enforcing the ban.

In a statement, the organizations responded that the bans are, according to CNN, “unlawful assault on the most fundamental First Amendment freedoms.”

Kelly rejected the White House’s argument last week, requiring the administration to allow the organization on White House grounds for two weeks.

The outlets have remained excluded from the White House press pool despite Kelly’s order. The pool consists of a rotating selection of media organizations that cover presidential events and travel when there is not enough space for the entire White House press corps.

For example, CNN was scheduled to travel with President Trump to Tennessee. However, once the time came, they were blocked from doing so.

Additionally, lawyers for the organizations hope for a favorable verdict to protect against further First Amendment infringement by the Trump administration against any other organizations.