Federal prosecutors have opened a civil investigation into whether television networks that participate in the White House press pool violated antitrust laws when they collectively boycotted their involvement in protest of the Trump administration’s decision to deny access to three news organizations last month.
According to the New York Times, officials at the U.S. Department of Justice reached out to executives at five television news organizations — ABC News, CBS News, Fox News Media, NBC News and CNN — seeking communication records and other materials related to the boycott.
Four of the five news outlets declined to participate in covering President Donald Trump and members of his administration after the White House denied access to reporters and photographers from CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO. Other news organizations, including print and radio outlets, refused to step in to provide substitute coverage after the outlets were banished. CNN was scheduled to provide pool coverage at least once during the boycott.
The news outlets are fighting the matter in court, and have obtained a preliminary restraining order that forced the White House to restore their access late last month. The White House press pool has returned to almost-normal operation, though the Trump administration has allowed right-of-center news outlets like Real America’s Voice to travel with the president and members of his administration at an increased rate compared to before the boycott.
The White House has maintained its stance that access to the federal office space and the president is a privilege and not a right. But the news outlets say selectively punishing organizations over news coverage that Trump finds unflattering or otherwise objects to is a violation of protected speech and news gathering practices.
The Justice Department’s investigation introduces a separate legal question concerning the conduct of the television networks themselves. The department is examining whether the networks’ collective decision to suspend pooled coverage constituted an unlawful group boycott under the Sherman Act, the New York Times said.
Federal antitrust laws generally prohibit certain coordinated activities among competing businesses, including agreements that unlawfully restrict competition. But it can be harder to prove a case in court when the coordinated activities cause self-inflicted harm rather than an advantage over a competitor.
In this case, none of the news outlets were able to air news video of Trump’s public events while the boycott was ongoing, and the Trump administration hand-picked outlets that it felt were more favorable to fill the gap.
The five news outlets targeted in the probe have not released a comment on the matter. No civil action has commenced, and it isn’t clear if the Trump administration will press the matter in court.
