The Justice Department is investigating ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News over their joint decision to temporarily suspend White House television pool coverage after the Trump administration revoked credentials from three news organizations, the department said Saturday, Reuters reported.
“Group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act,” DOJ spokesperson Emily Covington said in a statement, Reuters reported. The department said its Antitrust Division was investigating whether a violation occurred.
DOJ sent civil investigative demands Friday, October 9, a department official told NBC News. Investigators are seeking communications among the networks about the pool, The Wall Street Journal reported.
What the networks suspended
The television pool rotates responsibility for recording presidential appearances and travel. The assigned network shares video and audio with other news organizations, spreading the costs and logistical burden of coverage, NBC News reported.
The networks briefly halted pool duties after the White House removed CNN from its turn in the rotation. Individual networks, including NBC News, continued covering White House events open to the press outside the pool, NBC News reported.
“No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting,” the five networks said in their September 21 joint statement published by Fox News.
Trump announced the ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico on September 18, accusing the outlets of publishing false coverage, as The Dallas Express reported at the time.
The three organizations sued. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily required the administration to restore their access, and the court later extended that order through Tuesday, October 13, NBC News reported.
Antitrust inquiry raises separate questions
The earlier access lawsuit challenges the administration’s restrictions on constitutional grounds. The new investigation examines the networks’ coordinated conduct under competition law.
A company can independently refuse to do business with another firm, but an agreement among competitors to refuse dealings with targeted businesses may constitute an illegal boycott, particularly when those competitors have market power, Federal Trade Commission guidance explains.
That guidance describes general antitrust principles. DOJ’s statement does not establish that the networks’ coverage decision meets the legal requirements for a violation.
“The government should not use antitrust investigations to intimidate news outlets defending press access,” Jose Zamora, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ regional director of the Americas, said on X, The Associated Press reported.
ABC said it had not received notice of the investigation but expected to. NBC, CBS and CNN declined to comment, while Fox did not immediately respond to a request for comment, NBC News reported.
