Laura Loomer says the networks' pool suspension is the kind of concerted action an antitrust division would examine
Laura LoomerFounder of Loomered and host of Loomer Unleashed, in a post on X
Laura Loomer said the television networks' joint withdrawal of pool coverage was the kind of concerted action a serious Justice Department antitrust division would examine, and said a lawsuit should have been filed that day.
“This coordinated withdrawal of news coverage is exactly the kind of concerted action a serious antitrust division at the DOJ would examine: whether competing news organizations agreed among themselves to withhold a product the public expects to see.”
Original post
Where this statement fits
Is DOJ justified in investigating the White House TV press-pool boycott under antitrust law?
On October 10, 2026, the Justice Department confirmed that its Antitrust Division is investigating whether ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC broke antitrust law when the White House television pool they share stopped covering some of President Trump's events in September. After Trump announced on September 18 that he was barring CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, the other four networks refused to replace CNN when it was removed from the pool rotation, and the pool returned to full coverage on September 25. Department spokesperson Emily Covington said group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act, while former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance argues that the networks were protesting the treatment of journalists rather than restraining trade. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Freedom of the Press Foundation and Jonathan Kanter, the Biden administration's antitrust chief, also criticized the inquiry, while commentator Laura Loomer had urged the department in September to examine the networks' action. The dispute is over whether the networks' joint suspension of pool coverage justifies an antitrust investigation.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Post on Loomer's own X account, published the day the television pool suspended coverage.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Loomer posted on September 21, 2026, the day the television pool suspended coverage. Her post opens by criticizing Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, whom she describes as in charge of the department's antitrust division, and says the networks refused to provide pooled coverage after the president barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House.
After the quotation
She says a lawsuit should have been filed that day and argues that a joint decision by pool members to stop covering designated presidential events differs from protected editorial discretion. The rest of the post criticizes Woodward and the administration's vetting of personnel.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case asks whether the Justice Department is justified in investigating the television networks' White House press-pool boycott under antitrust law. Nearly three weeks before the inquiry was reported, Loomer says the networks' "coordinated withdrawal of news coverage" is the kind of concerted action the Antitrust Division should examine, and writes: "A lawsuit should have been filed today". That supports an antitrust investigation of the networks, so we labeled it Defended or excused. The closest competing label is Mixed or conditional, since she criticizes the division's leadership; it loses because her complaint is that the department was not acting against the networks, not a reservation about doing so.
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More from this case
Read the full caseVance disputes the antitrust basis for the inquiry
“But it’s doubtful that the networks’ boycott is the type of restraint on trade that antitrust laws are intended to prevent.”Read statement
Former antitrust chief Jonathan Kanter says the networks' action is not even close to an antitrust violation
“This is not even in the same zip code of an antitrust violation”Read statement
Reporters Committee calls the antitrust inquiry an even more brazen attempt to intimidate journalists
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
“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.”Read statement
Cite this record
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- The Dispute Index
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- Laura Loomer says the networks' pool suspension is the kind of concerted action an antitrust division would examine
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- https://disputeindex.com/events/5571-laura-loomer-said-the-television-networks-joint-withdrawal
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Laura Loomer says the networks' pool suspension is the kind of concerted action an antitrust division would examine". First published: 2026-10-11. Last updated: 2026-10-11. https://disputeindex.com/events/5571-laura-loomer-said-the-television-networks-joint-withdrawal