The Department of Justice has launched an antitrust investigation against ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, CNN, and Fox News over their temporary suspension of providing pool coverage of President Donald Trump.
This is the latest salvo in the ongoing dispute between the Trump administration and CNN, MS NOW, and Politico journalists who were barred from reporting from the White House.
The DOJ is looking into whether the cooperation among the five outlets, which are supposed to compete against one another, violated antitrust laws, particularly the Sherman Antitrust Act, by collectively boycotting pool coverage.
The networks learned of the investigation on Oct. 9, and a DOJ spokesperson told The New York Times on Saturday that the five networks have “proudly boycotted covering White House events,” adding, “The Antitrust Division is simply investigating to determine whether these news organizations have violated the antitrust laws.”
All this is happening as CNN, MS NOW, and Politico await a federal judge’s decision on Oct. 13 on whether Trump’s ban of these outlets from the White House breached the journalists’ First Amendment rights, which protects freedom of the press.
Attorneys from the three outlets filed for an emergency hearing, accusing the White House of violating U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly’s ruling, which granted a temporary order requiring the Trump administration to restore press access as the case moved through the court.
Once they regained access, pool coverage resumed; however, on days when CNN was designated the official video pool provider, the government blocked the network from traveling on board Air Force One with the president, leading to another boycott of pool coverage.
