US judge orders White House to restore CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's press pass

A federal judge on Friday ordered the White House to immediately restore CNN correspondent Jim Acosta's press pass. The White House had revoked Acosta's press credentials hours after he had a testy exchange with the US President Donald Trump during a marathon news conference last week.

Judge Timothy Kelly issued a temporary restraining order that requires the White House to restore Acosta's access until a full hearing is held, according to the network. CNN on Tuesday sued the Trump administration for revoking Acosta's press pass.

CNN and other media groups, including Trump's favourite Fox News, backed the lawsuit, which claimed that revoking Acosta's pass violated constitutional guarantees of a free press. Kelly said that his ruling was based on "due process" for the journalist, and that he would holding additional proceedings on the constitutional issues at stake, including the First Amendment free press guarantee. "

"I want to thank all of my colleagues in the press who supported us this week, and I want to thank the judge for the decision he made today," Acosta said outside US District Court in Washington, D.C., reported CNBC

The Trump administration’s move came just hours after Acosta drew the ire of the President by persisting with questions about his views on a caravan of Central American migrants making its way to the US border and refused the president's orders to sit down, and clung to the microphone.

CNN lawyers argued in court on Wednesday that the White House violated Acosta's First Amendment right to free speech in revoking his credentials. The US Justice Department's lawyer, James Burnham, countered that Acosta had "disrupted" last week's news conference.

Burnham insisted "there is no First Amendment right to access the White House." Acosta,