The Justice Department is investigating ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, and NBC over whether their coordinated refusal to cover certain White House events amounted to an illegal group boycott under federal antitrust law.
The probe, announced Saturday, focuses on the television press pool’s decision to suspend shared coverage of select events after the Trump administration moved to bar CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House. DOJ spokesperson Emily Covington said in a statement that “members of the television press pool have proudly boycotted covering White House events” and that “group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act.” The Antitrust Division is examining whether the networks broke antitrust laws.
The networks were contacted Friday about the investigation, according to The New York Times, which cited six people familiar with the matter.
In response, ABC, CBS, Fox News, and NBC declined to step into the rotation to replace CNN, creating gaps in the shared pool footage normally distributed worldwide. Coverage of events including Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit was affected. The pool resumed full rotation on Sept. 25.
The Justice Department inquiry represents a major escalation in the Trump administration’s ongoing disputes with the White House press corps. It fits a broader pattern of the administration employing government powers against media outlets it regards as opponents. The department has previously subpoenaed reporters from The New York Times and seized a laptop from a Washington Post journalist.
DOJ officials have discussed a potential investigation into the TV networks for at least a week, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The inquiry, still in its early stages, is being overseen by the department’s civil division under Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, a former White House lawyer.