法律专家和新闻自由倡导者认为，司法部对白宫电视新闻采访池的调查可能是为了寻求记者提供更多记录的借口。
Legal experts and press freedom advocates believe the Justice Department's White House television press pool probe could be a pretext for seeking additional records from reporters.
这很重要：反垄断律师认为司法部针对这些网络的法律案件证据不足。
Why it matters: Antitrust lawyers argue the DOJ's legal case against the networks is thin.
现状：司法部正在调查新闻采访池的成员是否因选择不转播池的报道，以此表示对白宫所禁止媒体机构的支持，而违反了反垄断法，司法部已向Axios证实了这一调查。
State of play: The Justice Department is investigating whether members of the pool violated antitrust laws by opting not to air pool coverage in solidarity with outlets the White House banned, the DOJ confirmed to Axios.
上个月，CNN、MS NOW和Politico因政府撤销其新闻通行证的访问权，以第一修正案和第五修正案为由起诉了白宫。
CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued the White House last month on First Amendment and Fifth Amendment grounds after the administration revoked press pass access.
更广泛的白宫新闻采访池由轮流跟随总统进行报道和旅行的媒体机构组成，该池已表示对被禁止媒体机构的支持。
The broader White House press pool, which consists of outlets that cover the president and travel with him on rotation, has stood in solidarity with the barred outlets.
Axios是数十家加入之友简报的媒体组织之一，这些简报敦促联邦法院禁止特朗普政府因其新闻报道而将CNN、MS NOW和Politico排除在白宫之外。
Axios is among dozens of media organizations that have joined amicus briefs urging a federal court to prohibit the Trump administration from excluding CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House because of their news coverage.
他们说：“这似乎没有多少调查或起诉的价值，”前联邦检察官、律师 Shan Wu 对 Axios 表示。
What they're saying: "It doesn't seem to have much investigatorial or prosecutorial merit," Shan Wu, an attorney and former federal prosecutor, told Axios.
他说：“这起案件看来并不像是一种通常值得启动反垄断调查的贸易限制。”
The case, he said, "does not seem like it's some sort of restraint on trade" that would typically warrant an antitrust probe.
比尔·贝尔曾在奥巴马总统任期内担任司法部反垄断主管，他对《华盛顿邮报》表示：“这看起来完全是报复。”
Bill Baer, who served as the DOJ's antitrust chief under President Obama, told the Washington Post, "It looks like total retaliation." Between the lines: Press freedom experts argue the lawsuit is a pretext for seeking records from the networks about how they covered the White House during the media ban.
言之间：新闻自由专家认为，这起诉讼是为了获取网络有关其在媒体禁令期间如何报道白宫的记录的借口。
"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," said Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press president Bruce D. Brown.
“新闻机构在报道方面所作的决定受到第一修正案的保护，而在此基础上动用反垄断权力，再加上白宫已经采取的报复性行动以排除某些媒体，这是另一种更加公然的企图，旨在恐吓记者。”新闻自由委员会主席布鲁斯·D·布朗说道。
Zoom out: The allegations of pretext come amid broader concerns about the Justice Department in Trump's second term, like seeking journalists' records, compelling reporters to testify before a grand jury and defending the White House's restrictions on press access in court.
放大来看：这些借口的指控是在对特朗普第二任期司法部的更广泛担忧中出现的，例如寻求记者的档案、迫使记者在大陪审团前作证，以及在法庭上为白宫对媒体进入的限制进行辩护。
"Given that deep history, it's certainly possible this is something with a different agenda potentially," Wu said.
“考虑到这种深层历史，这很可能是有着不同议程的事情，”吴说道。披露：
Disclosure: