The US Department of Justice is investigating the five major US news networks for possible violations of antitrust law, opening another front in the Trump administration's pressure campaign against the press.
The investigation, which a prominent organization defending First Amendment freedom of speech has called meaningless, centers around the “TV pool,” an arrangement that has long been in place but was disrupted last month when President Donald Trump banned CNN from the White House grounds. The Joint Television Group is a small, rotating group of journalists who provide coverage of the president and represent the larger press corps.
The head of the joint television group at the time said that because Trump “prevented CNN from performing its assigned tasks within the joint television group,” an alternative group would not be “formed.”
There was no syndicated television coverage of Trump's events for several days, until a federal judge issued an order to temporarily halt Trump's ban on CNN, MSNOW and Politico. This lawsuit is still ongoing, and the Justice Department is defending Trump's decision in court.
Now, the Ministry of Justice is also conducting an investigation into the workings of this joint television group. The New York Times was the first to report this highly unusual investigation on Saturday, and it comes two weeks after Trump ally Laura Loomer publicly encouraged the Justice Department to challenge the networks on antitrust grounds.
In a statement to CNN, a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice confirmed the features of this investigation.
“Members of the Joint Television Press Group boycotted coverage of White House events,” the spokesperson said. “Such a mass boycott among business competitors would constitute a violation of the Sherman Act. The Antitrust Division is simply investigating to determine whether these news organizations have violated the antitrust laws.”
While representatives for the five networks that have formed this group for decades - ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC - declined or did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday evening.
Two sources familiar with the matter said the networks first became aware of the investigation on Friday, when the networks' lawyers received government requests for documents related to the Joint Coverage Group, including how it was formed and its recent operations.
Through the joint coverage group, the five television networks take turns documenting the president's appearance, sharing live and recorded footage among themselves and with the rest of the press corps. It's an expensive undertaking that takes 365 days a year, with multi-day trips often costing tens of thousands of dollars for participating networks.
The combined coverage group system arose out of necessity in the era of the Big Three television networks; It allows a single television crew to cover presidential events for multiple news organizations in cases where space or access to the event is limited.
Viewers around the world benefit from this system. For example, this joint group usually covers presidential question-and-answer sessions in the Oval Office and during flights on Air Force One, and local television stations and the websites of newspapers and media outlets around the world rely on the footage provided by this group.
When Trump's ban on CNN disrupted the work of the joint group, the five networks issued a rare joint statement saying: "The public has an important interest in receiving accurate and independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization simply because it objects to its coverage."
The Joint Coverage Group's decision to stand with CNN, rather than form an alternative group, was commented on in an email by Brian Bouton, the Fox News Washington bureau chief, who was serving as Chairman of the Joint Coverage Group at the time.
Currently, Chloe Arensberg, NBC News' Washington bureau chief, serves as head of the Joint Coverage Group.
One of the sources familiar with the matter said that the Justice Department's investigation may have played a role in the lawsuit filed by CNN and two other media organizations that were blocked, MS NOW and Politico, last month.
Allegations of retaliation against the media formed a common thread in legal documents filed by lawyers for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico.
The Press Freedom Foundation commented on the news of the investigation on Saturday evening, saying: “What nonsense.”
“Trump may view the presidency as a business venture, but news organizations’ defense of the First Amendment has nothing to do with antitrust laws,” the rights group wrote on the Bluesky platform.
Nico Perino, executive vice president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, pointed to Trump's inauguration day pledge to restore freedom of expression, and said the investigation is another example of retaliation.
Perino wrote on the “X” platform: “Is there a means of pressure that this administration does not hesitate to use to punish its enemies?” He added: "This is the case for restoring freedom of expression to America and putting an end to the use of the law as a weapon."
