DOJ launches antitrust probe into 5 broadcasters that boycotted White House pool

The US Department of Justice has opened an antitrust investigation into five major broadcasters that temporarily suspended White House pool coverage in protest of President Donald Trump's restrictions on press access.

According to US media outlets including the Associated Press and The New York Times, the Justice Department said Friday (local time) it is investigating whether ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News violated federal antitrust law by refusing to participate in White House pool coverage.

The department sent letters to the five broadcasters on Oct. 9 demanding that they submit communications among their staff related to the operation of the pool and CNN's exclusion from White House access.

A Justice Department spokesperson said "a group boycott among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act," adding that the department is "simply investigating whether these media organizations violated antitrust law."

The probe was triggered by the White House's decision on Sept. 19 to revoke press credentials for reporters from CNN, the political outlet Politico and Microsoft News. Trump accused those outlets of deliberately publishing negative coverage, and the White House argued that access to the president was "a privilege, not a right."

In response, the five broadcasters that make up the White House television pool — ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News — suspended pool coverage for several days in protest.

The White House television pool operates by having broadcasters share the cost of covering the president on a rotating basis and distributing footage to other news organizations. The suspension left major networks without video of key events, including footage of Trump welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The outlets that had been barred filed a lawsuit arguing the White House's action violated the First Amendment's guarantee of press freedom. After a court ordered the restoration of their credentials, citing possible unconstitutionality, the White House reinstated the reporters' press passes on Sept. 24, and the other broadcasters resumed pool coverage the following day.

However, the White House has continued to bar CNN from participating in pool coverage aboard Air Force One. As a result, The New York Times reported, pool coverage still does not take place on days when CNN's turn comes up in the rotation.

The New York Times characterized the investigation as an escalation of the conflict between the Trump administration and the press — moving beyond access restrictions into legal pressure through antitrust law.

Some legal experts have pushed back on the notion that the broadcasters' pool suspension constitutes an antitrust violation. William Kovacic, a former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, said that if the primary purpose of the group boycott was political expression rather than commercial gain, it may not amount to an antitrust violation, and predicted that proving wrongdoing in this case would be difficult.