that the administration had to temporarily restore their access for 14 days. A federal judge this week extended the order to Tuesday.

The five major networks released a joint statement at the time, saying,  The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting. 

The pool system has been recognized by administrations from both parties for decades, and the coverage is used by pool members and subscribers, which includes outlets like Newsmax, One America News Network, C-SPAN and international outlets.

During the time the outlets declined to provide pool coverage, individual TV networks, including NBC News, continued to provide coverage of White House events that were open to the press, outside of the pool.

Bruce D. Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said in a statement that the First Amendment protects the decisions news organizations make about coverage, and called the investigation  another and even more brazen attempt to try to intimidate journalists. 

Kelly O'Donnell reported from Washington, and Marlene Lenthang from Los Angeles.

Rebecca Kaplan contributed.