The lawsuit filed by CNN, MS NOW and Politico against the ban on the three outlets from the White House has been assigned to US District Judge Timothy Kelly, whom Donald Trump nominated to the federal bench in Washington in 2017 and who has already ruled against the president in a press case, according to The Hill and USA Today.

Trump responded on Truth Social saying the outlets ‘drew a great Judge’ and that Kelly was ‘sadly, appointed by “TRUMP”’ — a reference to the judge’s 2018 ruling restoring the credentials of then-CNN correspondent Jim Acosta. ‘In other words, almost without question and, as usual, we’ll go for appeal,’ the president wrote. The administration argues that access to the White House is a privilege rather than a right, and the lawsuit asks the court to declare the ban unconstitutional and restore the credentials of the barred reporters.