The White House helped steer a Justice Department probe into major TV networks, but some inside the department doubt it will survive.
The White House was a driving force behind the DOJ's antitrust investigation into the networks' brief suspension of pooled presidential coverage, three people familiar with the matter told Semafor on Wednesday. Some inside the DOJ question the probe's legal merits, and two former DOJ officials told Semafor the networks' move is likely shielded by the First Amendment.
One of them cited a 1982 Supreme Court decision that extended constitutional protection to group boycotts carried out for political reasons.
The networks pulled out of the pool after three news outlets were barred from the White House.
Two of the sources indicated the idea for an antitrust inquiry originated inside the White House before officials there pushed the Justice Department to pursue it. A third source brushed off the question of who came up with it first, calling it a "distinction [without] a difference" given how tightly the two operate under President Donald Trump.
A DOJ official pushed back on that account, insisting that "seasoned attorneys within the Justice Department, including the antitrust division, first discussed this." The official also said any information requests that may have gone to networks were written "because there is sound legal footing to investigate."
The antitrust division's ties to the White House run deep, Semafor noted. Sara Matar, who previously served as the division's chief of staff, moved to the White House counsel's office in August as an associate.
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis issued a statement after Semafor's report was published. "Your sources have it wrong," she said. "As the Department of Justice said, this investigation did not initiate with the White House."
The probe also echoes a demand from MAGA activist Laura Loomer, who posted last month questioning why the DOJ hadn't "filed an antitrust lawsuit" against outlets that she said "colluded to refuse to cover" Trump. Loomer traveled with Trump to Alabama the following week, though it's not clear whether she brought up the matter with him.
Attorney General Todd Blanche has openly defended the president's right to point the DOJ toward targets, Semafor noted. Speaking at Semafor's World Economy Summit in April, Blanche said that when "the leader of the Free World" wants the DOJ to "focus on something," acting on it is "of course, what every Department of Justice has done."
Legal experts see the investigation as a possible avenue for the DOJ to obtain internal records from the networks, according to Axios.
