DOJ Probes TV Networks Over White House Pool Boycott

The Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation into ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, and NBC regarding their operation of the White House television pool. The probe follows the networks' collective decision last month to suspend pooled coverage after President Trump barred CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from White House grounds.

A DOJ spokesperson confirmed the investigation Saturday, stating that members of the television press pool boycotted White House events and that group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act. The networks had operated the rotating pool system for decades to share footage of presidential events.

“Group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act.”

The boycott left several major presidential events without pooled television coverage, including Trump's airport greeting of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Coverage resumed on September 25 after a federal judge ordered the White House to restore access to the three banned outlets, though separate disputes continue over pool access aboard Air Force One.

Bruce Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, called the investigation a pretext for seeking records about how networks cover daily White House events during a media ban the president himself imposed. The New York Times first reported the inquiry, which came two weeks after Trump ally Laura Loomer publicly urged the DOJ to challenge the pool system on antitrust grounds.