Judge rules White House must give Playboy columnist Brian Karem his press pass back

A federal judge ruled against the White House on Tuesday and ordered President Trump and Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham to immediately restore the press credentials of Playboy columnist Brian Karem.

US District Judge Rudolph Contreras said in an opinion that Karem had “shown that he is likely to succeed” on his claim that his due process rights were violated when his pass was suspended.

“Free Speech and due process win!” Karem tweeted shortly after the decision.

Karem is also a CNN political analyst.

Grisham notified Karem on August 2 that she had made a “preliminary decision” to suspend his hard pass over a confrontation he had in the Rose Garden with Sebastian Gorka, a former White House aide and conservative media personality.

Karem then had the opportunity to appeal, which he did.

But Grisham said in a letter dated August 16 that she had “made a final determination” to follow through with a 30 day suspension. As a result, Karem’s hard pass was suspended until September 14.

In the letter, made public by Karem’s attorney, Grisham described Karem’s behavior during the Rose Garden confrontation with Sebastian Gorka as inappropriate.

“Mr. Karem’s conduct, taken as a whole, was unacceptable and disruptive, and requires a response to ensure that it does not happen again,” Grisham wrote.

Grisham said she “carefully considered a range of potential responses,” including “permanently revoking his hard pass, providing a written warning, and taking no action.”

Ultimately, Grisham said, she determined a “permanent revocation would be too great a punishment.” But, she wrote, “Taking no action, on the other hand, would be insufficient.”

Karem is the second reporter who has had his hard pass suspended by the Trump administration. Last year the White House without warning revoked the hard pass of Jim Acosta, CNN’s chief White House correspondent.

CNN took the White House to court. A key argument was that the White House had violated Acosta’s due process rights when it revoked his access without warning. CNN ultimately won its case and the White House restored Acosta’s hard pass.

Following the legal loss to Acosta, the White House set up a system which allowed for — or at least provided the appearance of — some due process. As a result, Grisham first issued a “preliminary decision” against Karem and allowed him to appeal it.

Karem, however, has rejected the notion he was afforded due process by the new system.

“It’s a kangaroo court,” Karem told CNN in August. “It’s the exact opposite of due process. ‘You’re guilty, want to come in here and tell us why you’re not?’ No, that’s not due process. That’s the exact opposite of due process.”

Karem’s attorney also said on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” Sunday that “many of the arguments” in Karem’s case “are the same” as the arguments made in the CNN case.

“Just like with Jim Acosta’s case, the White House out of the blue suspended Brian Karem’s press pass based on nonexistent standards, with no notice of what the — the standards of conduct would be,” Boutrous said. “And so we have a lot of the same arguments.”

Karem has maintained that his behavior is protected by the First Amendment.

“I am proactive, and I am a smart aleck,” Karem conceded during an appearance on “Reliable Sources” Sunday. “But I’m not going to apologize for that. That’s OK under the First Amendment.”