Justice Dept. Is Investigating TV Networks Over Trump Pool Coverage
The Justice Department is investigating whether the major television networks — ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News — violated federal antitrust laws when the group briefly suspended their pooled coverage of President Trump, according to six people with knowledge of the department’s action.Officials from the Justice Department contacted networks on Friday and demanded communications and materials related to the White House TV pool, the people said.The pool is a longstanding system where the networks share the responsibility of providing footage of the president and distributing it to other news outlets.Last month, the networks collectively suspended their pool footage of Mr.
Trump for several days after the president barred CNN journalists from the White House grounds, which prevented CNN from participating in the pool.Video footage of some major events, including Mr.
Trump’s greeting of President Xi Jinping of China, was not carried by any major news station.In a statement on Saturday, a Justice Department spokeswoman, Emily Covington, described the five networks as having “proudly boycotted covering White House events.”“Group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act,” a core antitrust law, Ms.Covington wrote.
“The Antitrust Division is simply investigating to determine whether these news organizations have violated the antitrust laws.”The inquiry by the Justice Department is a profound escalation of the Trump administration’s ongoing battles with the White House press corps.It also follows a pattern of the Trump administration using the levers of government against its perceived foes in the media.
The Justice Department has subpoenaed reporters from The New York Times and seized a laptop from a Washington Post journalist.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and lo...