Experts say DOJ antitrust probe could be pretext for seeking journalist records
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Legal experts and press freedom advocates believe the Justice Department's White House television press pool probe could be a pretext for seeking additional records from reporters.
Why it matters: Antitrust lawyers argue the DOJ's legal case against the networks is thin.
State of play: The Justice Department is investigating whether members of the pool violated antitrust laws by opting not to air pool coverage in solidarity with outlets the White House banned, the DOJ confirmed to Axios.
- CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued the White House last month on First Amendment and Fifth Amendment grounds after the administration revoked press pass access.
- The broader White House press pool, which consists of outlets that cover the president and travel with him on rotation, has stood in solidarity with the barred outlets.
- Axios is among dozens of media organizations that have joined amicus briefs urging a federal court to prohibit the Trump administration from excluding CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House because of their news coverage.
What they're saying: "It doesn't seem to have much investigatorial or prosecutorial merit," Shan Wu, an attorney and former federal prosecutor, told Axios.
- The case, he said, "does not seem like it's some sort of restraint on trade" that would typically warrant an antitrust probe.
- Bill Baer, who served as the DOJ's antitrust chief under President Obama, told the Washington Post, "It looks like total retaliation."
Between the lines: Press freedom experts argue the lawsuit is a pretext for seeking records from the networks about how they covered the White House during the media ban.
- "The decisions news organizations make about coverage are protected by the First Amendment, 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," said Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press president Bruce D. Brown.
Zoom out: The allegations of pretext come amid broader concerns about the Justice Department in Trump's second term, like seeking journalists' records, compelling reporters to testify before a grand jury and defending the White House's restrictions on press access in court.
- "Given that deep history, it's certainly possible this is something with a different agenda potentially," Wu said.
Disclosure: The author of this article is a paid contributor for CNN.
