Trump White House Media Ban Remains Blocked as DOJ Investigates Networks

President Donald Trump barred journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. Their credentials were revoked without notice, and a judge allowed them back on September 24, six days later, according to Le Monde.

The dispute centers on the administration's reasons for excluding them. The Hill reported that Trump said the three organizations should not be allowed to cover him because of what he called fake news. The organizations are seeking a court order that keeps their reporters admitted while their legal challenge proceeds.

On October 3, Livemint reported that the Justice Department had urged a federal judge to reject the organizations' request for a longer order preventing their exclusion from the White House.

At the October 8 hearing, an attorney for the organizations argued that the administration must be prevented from barring their reporters until the case is resolved, according to The Independent. Their lawyer pointed to Trump's own statements as evidence that critical coverage motivated the ban, the Guardian reported.

The judge pressed government lawyers about the different justifications offered for the exclusions, according to Deadline Hollywood. He briefly extended the order allowing access to White House grounds until Tuesday, while considering a longer reprieve, Livemint reported.

A separate legal front emerged on October 10. The New York Times reported that major television networks had been notified on Friday, October 9, that the Justice Department was examining whether their suspension of pool coverage violated antitrust laws.

The department said on Saturday, October 10, that it was investigating the networks' brief boycott of White House coverage, according to Reuters. Deadline Hollywood reported that the investigation covers the five major networks making up the White House television pool and concerns their suspension of participation in protest of the ban.

The ban remains temporarily blocked. The judge said he would decide by Tuesday whether to extend that protection further, according to The New York Times. The immediate question is continued access while the case proceeds, not a final resolution of the legal challenge.

The Justice Department's network investigation concerns possible violations of federal competition laws, the BBC reported. A department spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act. The supplied coverage reports an investigation, not a finding that the networks broke the law.

The next concrete step is the judge's promised Tuesday ruling on whether to keep the access protections in place for longer. His questioning at the hearing focused on the government's differing explanations for the ban, according to Deadline Hollywood.

Separately, the open question is whether the television networks' temporary suspension of shared coverage violated antitrust law. Reuters reported the Justice Department's investigation, but the supplied coverage gives no timetable for its outcome.