The Justice Department is investigating whether major TV networks violated federal antitrust laws when they briefly suspended a rotation of broadcast journalists covering the White House last month following CNN’s removal from a planned assignment .
Fox News, ABC News, CBS News, CNN and NBC News are part of a group of reporters, videographers, photographers and technicians who cover President Trump when he travels or when events take place in spaces that are too small for the entire press corps. When CNN was taken out of the rotation for Trump’s trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly in September—days after Trump banned the network, MS NOW and Politico from the White House—the TV pool briefly halted some coverage of the president. “Members of the television press pool have boycotted covering White House events.
Networks learned of the probe Friday, with Justice Department officials seeking records of communication among them regarding the pool, people familiar with the matter said. Group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act,” Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Covington said in a statement. “The Antitrust Division is simply investigating to determine whether these news organizations have violated the antitrust laws.”
The Justice Department’s investigation further escalates tensions between the Trump administration and the media. He has also called unfavorable coverage treasonous, and his administration has subpoenaed journalists and limited access to government spaces.
Trump said in July that ABC and NBC should lose their broadcast licenses for not carrying his speech on alleged election fraud on their networks.
