f{"id":52068,"date":"2026-10-11T12:44:02","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T19:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=52068"},"modified":"2026-10-11T12:44:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T19:44:02","slug":"brazen-attempt-to-try-to-intimidate-journalists-trump-doj-launches-antitrust-probe-into-news-networks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/10\/11\/brazen-attempt-to-try-to-intimidate-journalists-trump-doj-launches-antitrust-probe-into-news-networks\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Brazen Attempt to Try to Intimidate Journalists\u2019: Trump DOJ Launches Antitrust Probe Into News Networks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters upon his arrival to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on October 10, 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

(Photo by Mandel Ngan\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe investigation is nonsense,\u201d said one press freedom advocate. \u201cTrump may view the presidency as a business venture, but news outlets\u2019 standing up for their constitutional rights has nothing to do with antitrust law.\u201d<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Jake Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n

Oct 11, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The US Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether the five major television networks violated federal antitrust<\/a> law when they briefly halted pool coverage of President Donald Trump<\/a> amid his administration\u2019s attempt to bar certain journalists from the White House<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/a> reported<\/a> late Saturday that DOJ officials \u201ccontacted networks on Friday and demanded communications and materials related to the White House TV pool.\u201d ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, and Fox News rotate the responsibility of capturing and distributing footage of the president. The networks paused pool coverage<\/a> last month after the Trump administration<\/a> dropped CNN from its scheduled pool assignment.<\/p>\n

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RECOMMENDED…<\/div>\n
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\"A<\/a><\/div>\n
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\u2018Effectively a Boycott\u2019: Major TV Networks Ditch Pool Coverage of Trump in Solidarity With CNN<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n
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\"David<\/a><\/div>\n
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Free Press Advocates Call on David Ellison to Publicly\u2014and \u2018Harshly\u2019\u2014Condemn Trump\u2019s Ban on News Outlets<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Emily Covington, a spokesperson for the Justice Department, confirmed the existence of the investigation in a statement on Saturday, saying that \u201cgroup boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Press freedom<\/a> organizations and other critics condemned the probe as a politically motivated attack on journalism<\/a> and questioned the administration\u2019s expressed concern about antitrust violations\u2014particularly given that the DOJ has effectively abandoned antitrust enforcement<\/a> during Trump\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n

Bruce Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said the investigation \u201cappears to be a pretext for seeking records from the networks about how they are covering daily White House events during a media ban the president himself put in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decisions news organizations make about coverage are protected by the First Amendment<\/a>, and summoning antitrust authority, on top of the retaliatory actions the White House has already taken to bar certain outlets, is another and even more brazen attempt to try to intimidate journalists,\u201d said Brown.<\/p>\n

Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, called the investigation \u201cnonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe investigation is nonsense. Trump may view the presidency as a business venture, but news outlets\u2019 standing up for their constitutional rights has nothing to do with antitrust law, no matter what Laura Loomer says<\/a>,\u201d Stern added, pointing to the far-right activist\u2019s public call for an antitrust lawsuit against the major TV news networks. \u201cDepriving Trump of the attention he craves is not a competitive harm, and in any case, antitrust law has long recognized First Amendment exceptions even when there is anticompetitive impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

News of the DOJ investigation came after CNN, MS NOW, and Politico sued the president over his attempt to bar the outlets from the White House. Late last month, a Trump-appointed judge ordered<\/a> the administration to restore White House access to the outlets as the lawsuit proceeds.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Kanter, who headed the Justice Department\u2019s Antitrust Division under the Biden administration<\/a>, told<\/a> CNN on Saturday that the media networks\u2019 actions in the wake of the attempted White House ban are \u201cnot even in the same zip code of an antitrust violation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s literally freedom of speech,\u201d said Kanter. \u201cIt\u2019s no more an antitrust violation than the reporters coming together to form the pool in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder<\/a><\/h2>\n
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\nDear Common Dreams reader,<\/p>\n

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