Judge Orders White House to Restore Reporter's Press Pass

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the White House to restore Playboy correspondent Brian Karem's press pass, The Hill reports.

Karem sued President Donald Trump and White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham to overturn a 30-day suspension of his hard press pass following a public spat he had with conservative pundit Sebastian Gorka earlier in the summer.

Karem on Monday said the White House behaved unprofessionally.

"I am provocative, and I am a smart-aleck, but I'm not going to apologize for that," Karem told Brian Stelter during an appearance on CNN’s Reliable Sources.

"That's OK, under the First Amendment. There have been far worse altercations occurred in the Rose Garden and by members of the press in the past."

Grisham claimed Karem "threatened to escalate a verbal altercation into a physical one to the point that the Secret Service deemed it prudent the intervene," and Karem later sought out Gorka in the Palm Room of the White House "in what quickly became a confrontational manner while repeatedly disobeying a White House staffer's instructions to leave."

Karem disputed the account, saying he was merely trying to talk to Gorka.

• CNN's Stelter Rips Colleague for 'Unprofessional Conduct'
• Playboy Reporter Sues WH Over Press Credentials