The US Department of justice began an investigation against TV channels because of the boycott of trump

The US Department of Justice has launched an investigation into ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News on suspicion of violating antitrust laws after they temporarily suspended joint coverage of US President Donald Trump's events, The New York Times (NYT) and the BBC reported.

The agency requested correspondence and other materials related to the work of the White House television pool. Under this system, TV channels alternately film events with the participation of the president and transmit materials to other media outlets.

In September, TV channels suspended the collaboration for several days after Trump restricted access of representatives of CNN, Politico and MS NOW (formerly MSNBC) to the White House. Because of this, the largest American TV channels did not show footage of some events during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the United States. According to CNN, Chinese officials expressed dissatisfaction with insufficient coverage of the visit.

“Group boycotts among commercial competitors may violate the Sherman Act,” said Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Covington. The investigation should establish whether the TV channels violated the antitrust legislation.

According to the NYT, the investigation is at an early stage. Former Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission William Kovacic questioned the possibility of proving a violation of the law, because it is necessary to establish the predominance of commercial motives over political ones.

Earlier, the NYT reported that ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC planned to resume joint filming of Trump events, despite CNN's exclusion from the White House TV pool. In the days allotted to CNN, TV channels could direct another crew or leave the slot empty.

The rest of the channels refused to fulfill the duties of CNN after restricting its access to the White House, which suspended the work of the pool. A federal court later temporarily restored access to CNN, MS NOW and Politico, but on September 26, CNN journalists were not allowed to board Air Force One during Trump's trip to Tennessee.