DOJ investigating five TV networks over White House pool coverage

The Department of Justice is investigating five major TV networks over their White House pool coverage, according to a report.​Coverage of the White House has become a point of controversy in recent weeks, after President Trump tried to ban CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO. That led to ABC, CBS, Fox News, NBC and CNN temporarily suspending their pooled coverage of the White House.​Now, a DOJ spokesperson has told The Washington Post that the Justice Department is launching an investigation into that boycott.​“Members of the television press pool have boycotted covering White House events. Group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act,” spokesperson Emily Covington told The Post on Saturday. “The Antitrust Division is simply investigating to determine whether these news organizations have violated the antitrust laws.”The DOJ is reportedly investigating the White House TV press pool's boycott of White House coverage (Getty)​The Sherman Antitrust Act was signed into law all the way back in 1890 and is designed to counter anticompetitive business practices. The law prohibits any action that attempts to monopolize a certain market.​The withdrawal of press coverage meant that the remaining outlets covering the White House sometimes failed to pick up what Trump was saying, leading to awkward moments where he was drowned out by surrounding noises.​At the time, Trump ally Laura Loomer suggested that the DOJ should investigate the boycott.​“This coordinated withdrawal of news coverage is exactly the kind of concerted action a serious antitrust division at the DOJ would examine: whether competing news organizations agreed among themselves to withhold a product the public expects to see,” she wrote on X.​However, on Sunday, Jose Zamora, the regional Americas director at the Committee to Protect Journalists, slammed the DOJ’s announcement.​“The government should not use antitrust investigations to intimidate news outlets defending press access,” Zamora wrote on X. “The public’s right to know depends on that access.”The DOJ says that group boycotts could violate the Sherman Antitrust Act (AFP/Getty)​Trump banned CNN, POLITICO and MS NOW from the White House back in September, claiming that they lied about him in their coverage.​“Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America,” he wrote on Truth Social.​The three outlets, whose journalists had their White House press passes revoked, eventually sued Trump and three major White House officials, leading a judge to temporarily reinstate their access.​The three outlets’ lawsuit argued that the press ban had violated the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause as well as the First Amendment.​The TV pool, which involves major outlets taking turns to cover events in order to lower costs, boycotted coverage of the White House in response to the ban and resumed their coverage after the judge’s ruling.The Independent has contacted the DOJ for comment.