US: Justice Department probes Trump's press pool boycott for antitrust violation

JUST IN: US Justice Department opens an antitrust probe into ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News over the White House press pool's decision to suspend coverage of Trump in protest.

The Justice Department is investigating five TV networks for refusing to cover Donald Trump.

ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News, yes, Fox too, are all under an antitrust probe. The department says a group boycott among business competitors might break the law. The networks say they were protesting, after the White House barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico last month, you can see the president here, telling reporters that covering him is a privilege, not a right.

So the pool walked out on September 21. They sued, citing the First Amendment. A federal judge ordered the credentials restored within days, and the White House complied. That fight was basically over. Now the government has reopened it with antitrust lawyers.

The Committee to Protect Journalists calls it intimidation, plain and simple. And here is the fact worth sitting with. The same networks that just won in court on press freedom are now the ones under federal investigation.

This is Liu Yang, reporting for HIT.