DOJ investigating 5 major TV networks over response to White House press ban

The Justice Department (DOJ) is investigating five major TV networks for alleged antitrust violations after the outlets briefly pulled their pool coverage.

Sources told The New York Times on Saturday that the DOJ is investigating ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News for pulling their coverage days after a federal judge halted President Trump’s ban on CNN, Politico and MS NOW from reporting at the White House. This separate case is ongoing.

The Hill has reached out to the DOJ for comment.

A DOJ spokesperson told CNN that the group boycott among business competitors could violate U.S. law.

“Members of the television press pool have boycotted covering White House events. Group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act,” the spokesperson told the outlet. “The Antitrust Division is simply investigating to determine whether these news organizations have violated the antitrust laws.”

Bruce Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said the probe appears to be “a pretext for seeking records from the networks” on how they conduct their coverage of regular White House events amid Trump’s ban.

“The decisions news organizations make about coverage are protected by the First Amendment, and summoning antitrust authority, on top of the retaliatory actions the White House has already taken to bar certain outlets, is another and even more brazen attempt to try to intimidate journalists,” Brown said in a statement.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who extended the latest temporary injunction on Trump’s ban, is weighing whether to issue a longer-lasting injunction. The initial pause on the ban expired on Thursday.

The administration has made the familiar argument to justify Trump’s restriction, citing national security concerns and the use of anonymous sourcing. But the media outlets have pointed to the president’s frequent remarks that it was due to cumulative negative coverage, saying this was evidence of viewpoint discrimination by the government, which the First Amendment prohibits.

The White House also initially argued that the ban was in response to concerns over professionalism and not adhering to preset standards.

“The President concluded that they have failed to maintain basic minimum ‘standards of professionalism and decorum expected of those given access to the White House Complex, including’ by ‘publishing sensitive or classified information,’” the DOJ attorneys representing Trump wrote in a court filing earlier this month.

Though the ban was lifted, CNN and Politico have both been blocked from boarding Air Force One and traveling with the president since. The media outlets’ attorney argues that this is causing harm to the two companies and must be addressed.