CNN, the network the White House dropped from the pool, is itself one of the five; the department says a 'group boycott' among competitors can break the Sherman Act.
The Justice Department is investigating whether ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC broke antitrust law by jointly suspending the White House TV pool (one network films the president and shares the footage with the rest) in September. A judge has since ordered the barred outlets' credentials restored, so the probe targets a protest of a ban a court has blocked for now.
The theory. "Group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act," the 1890 law against competitors jointly restraining trade, Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Covington said Saturday, Oct. 10; its Antitrust Division asked for the networks' pool communications (BBC). Trump ally Laura Loomer had urged an antitrust case two weeks earlier (CNN).
The catch. The networks have run the pool jointly for decades unchallenged (Variety). Their defense: they protested press access, not prices. The Supreme Court shielded a political boycott in 1982 but in 1990 refused to shield lawyers boycotting for higher fees.
Still open. Judge Timothy Kelly's temporary order restoring the credentials runs to Tuesday, Oct. 13; on Oct. 8 he seemed likely to make it permanent (Courthouse News). Reports do not say whether the department used a civil investigative demand (an antitrust document demand) or a subpoena.