Trump’s DOJ probes major TV networks over response to White House ban of CNN

Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg/Getty Images/File

The Justice Department is investigating the five major US TV networks for possible antitrust violations, opening yet another front in the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against the press.

The probe, which one leading First Amendment group called nonsensical, concerns the TV pool , a long-standing arrangement that was disrupted last month when President Donald Trump banned CNN from the White House grounds. The pool is a small, rotating group of journalists that provides coverage of the president and represents the larger press corps.

The TV pool chair at the time said that with Trump “preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties,” there would be “no replacement pool put in place.”

There was no pooled TV coverage of Trump’s events for several days until a federal judge issued an order temporarily halting Trump’s ban on CNN, MSNOW and Politico. That litigation is ongoing , and the Justice Department is defending Trump’s action in court.

Now, the Justice Department is also probing how the TV pool functions. The highly unusual inquiry was first reported by The New York Times on Saturday. It comes two weeks after Trump ally Laura Loomer publicly encouraged the DOJ to challenge the networks on antitrust grounds.

In a statement to CNN, a Justice Department spokesperson confirmed the contours of the investigation.

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

Representatives for the five networks that have made up the pool for decades — ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC — either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday night.

The networks first learned about the investigation on Friday, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, when attorneys for the networks received government demands for documents relating to the pool, including its formation and its recent operations.

Through the pool, the five TV networks take turns documenting the president’s appearances, sharing live and taped footage with one another and the wider press corps. It’s a costly 365-day-a-year endeavor, with multiday trips often costing tens of thousands of dollars for the networks involved.

The TV pool system emerged out of necessity back in the era of the three broadcast networks. It enables a single TV crew to provide presidential event coverage for many news organizations when space or access is limited.

Viewers worldwide are the beneficiaries. For example, presidential Q&As in the Oval Office and trips on Air Force One are typically covered by the pool. Local TV stations, newspaper websites and media outlets worldwide rely on the footage.

When Trump’s ban of CNN disrupted the pool operation, the five networks issued a rare joint statement that read, “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”

The pool’s decision to stand with CNN — rather than put a replacement pool in place — was described in an email by Bryan Boughton, the Washington bureau chief for Fox News, who was the TV pool chair at the time.

Chloe Arensberg, the DC bureau chief for NBC News, is now the TV pool chair.

One of the sources with knowledge of the matter said the Justice Department probe may factor into the lawsuit CNN and the two other banned outlets, MS NOW and Politico, filed last month.

Alleged retaliation against the news outlets has been a throughline in the legal filings by lawyers for CNN, MS NOW and Politico.

The Freedom of the Press Foundation reacted to the news of the probe Saturday night by saying , “What nonsense.”

“Trump may view the presidency as a business venture, but news outlets’ standing up for the First Amendment has nothing to do with antitrust law,” the advocacy group wrote on Bluesky.

Nico Perrino, an executive vice president at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, invoked Trump’s inauguration day pledge to restore free speech and said the probe was another example of retribution.

“Is there a lever this administration is unwilling to pull to punish its enemies?” Perrino wrote on X. “So much for ‘bringing free speech back to America’ and ending the lawfare.”

Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg/Getty Images/文件

美国司法部正在调查五大美国电视网是否存在违反反垄断法的行为，这在特朗普政府对媒体施压的行动中又开辟了一个新的战线。

这项调查被一家主要的宪法第一修正案组织称为荒谬之举，它涉及电视记者团。电视记者团是一项由来已久的安排，上个月唐纳德·特朗普总统禁止CNN进入白宫后，这项安排被打乱。电视记者团由一小群轮换的记者组成，负责报道总统动态，并代表着更广泛的新闻界。

当时的电视新闻发布会主席表示，由于特朗普“阻止 CNN 履行其指定的新闻发布会职责”，因此“不会设立替代新闻发布会”。

在一位联邦法官发布命令暂时中止特朗普对CNN、MSNOW和Politico的禁令之前，特朗普的活动连续数日没有电视媒体进行联合报道。目前该诉讼仍在进行中，司法部正在法庭上为特朗普的行为辩护。

现在，司法部也在调查电视转播权的运作方式。这项极为罕见的调查最早由《纽约时报》于周六报道。此前两周，特朗普的盟友劳拉·卢默曾公开敦促司法部以反垄断为由对这些电视网提起诉讼。

司法部发言人在给 CNN 的一份声明中证实了调查的大致情况。

发言人表示：“电视记者团成员抵制报道白宫活动。商业竞争对手之间的集体抵制可能违反《谢尔曼反垄断法》。反垄断部门正在进行调查，以确定这些新闻机构是否违反了反垄断法。”

组成该联盟数十年的五大电视网——ABC、CBS、CNN、福克斯新闻和NBC——的代表周六晚间要么拒绝置评，要么没有回应置评请求。

两名知情人士透露，各电视台于上周五首次得知了这项调查，当时各电视台的律师收到了政府要求提供与该媒体池相关的文件的请求，包括该媒体池的成立及其最近的运营情况。

通过媒体联播，五家电视台轮流记录总统的露面，彼此之间以及与更广泛的媒体群体共享现场直播和录播画面。这是一项全年无休、耗资巨大的工作，单次多日行程往往要花费参与的电视台数万美元。

电视转播联播系统是在三大广播电视网时代应运而生的。当场地或转播权限有限时，该系统允许一个电视摄制组为多家新闻机构提供总统活动报道。

全世界的观众都是受益者。例如，总统在椭圆形办公室的问答环节以及乘坐空军一号的行程通常都由媒体联营公司负责拍摄。世界各地的地方电视台、报纸网站和媒体机构都依赖这些视频素材。

特朗普禁止 CNN 的禁令扰乱了新闻联播的运作，五大电视网罕见地发表了一份联合声明，声明中写道：“公众有权获得关于政府的准确、独立的信息。任何政府都不应该因为反对新闻机构的报道而限制其运作。”

福克斯新闻华盛顿分社社长布莱恩·博顿（Bryan Boughton）在一封电子邮件中描述了记者团决定与 CNN 站在一起，而不是另立记者团的原因。博顿当时是电视记者团的主席。

NBC新闻华盛顿分社社长克洛伊·阿伦斯伯格现在是电​​视新闻联席会议主席。

一位知情人士表示，司法部的调查可能会影响到 CNN 和另外两家被禁媒体 MS NOW 和 Politico 上个月提起的诉讼。

CNN、MS NOW 和 Politico 的律师在法律文件中一直强调，这些新闻媒体遭到了报复。

新闻自由基金会周六晚间对调查消息回应称：“真是胡说八道。”

“特朗普可能将总统职位视为一项商业冒险，但新闻媒体捍卫第一修正案与反垄断法无关，”该倡导组织在 Bluesky 网站上写道。

个人权利与表达基金会执行副总裁尼科·佩里诺援引特朗普就职日恢复言论自由的承诺，称此次调查是又一次报复的例子。

佩里诺在X网站上写道：“难道本届政府还有什么手段是不愿意用来惩罚其敌人的吗？所谓‘让言论自由回归美国’和结束法律战，真是讽刺。”