President Joe Biden’s White House staff reportedly sent a letter to several of the nation’s top news organizations Wednesday, directing them to “ramp up their scrutiny” of House Republicans following the opening of an impeachment inquiry into the president.
In the letter, which was obtained by CNN on Wednesday, White House Counsel’s Office spokesman Ian Sams stated, “It’s time for the media to ramp up its scrutiny of House Republicans for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies.”
The letter, which was sent to CNN, Fox News, The Associated Press, CBS News, The New York Times, and other news organizations, claimed that the impeachment inquiry into Biden should “set off alarm bells for news organizations.”
“Covering impeachment as a process story – Republicans say X, but the White House says Y – is a disservice to the American public who relies on the independent press to hold those in power accountable,” Sams wrote in the letter.
READ MORE: Speaker McCarthy announces Biden impeachment inquiry
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) ordered the opening of an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden’s alleged involvement in Hunter Biden’s foreign business affairs.
“Through our investigations, we have found that President Biden did lie to the American people about his own knowledge of his family’s foreign business dealings,” the speaker said. McCarthy added, “these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption.”
According to CNN, Wednesday’s letter from the White House warned news organizations against false equivalency in reporting on the Biden impeachment inquiry.
“In the modern media environment, where everyday liars and hucksters peddle disinformation and lie everywhere from Facebook to Fox, process stories that fail to unpack the illegitimacy of the claims on which House Republicans are basing all their actions only serve to generate confusion, put false premises in people’s feeds, and obscure the truth,” Sams added.
