The White House sent a letter to major news outlets demanding they investigate the “lies” behind the Republican Party’s plan to impeach President Joe Biden, sparking outrage among Republicans.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced an official impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden on Tuesday over allegations of corruption and involvement in son Hunter’s business dealings.
The move provoked fiery reactions from Democrats and prompted the White House to send a letter to major news outlets demanding they investigate the “lies” behind the impeachment proceedings.
“It is time for the media to step up their scrutiny of Republicans in the House of Representatives for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies,” White House spokesman Ian Sams wrote in the letter, which lists public comments from a handful of Republicans do not support impeachment.
Target audiences included CNN, the New York Times, the Associated Press and Fox News.
Republicans opposed the White House measure, calling it an attempt to threaten the media into submission.
The Biden administration is sending a letter to many of the major news organizations across the country demanding they investigate the “lies” of the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry.
McCarthy said Wednesday that it is “really concerning” that the White House is “telling the press what to say.”
He said the press would “want to know the answers” to a series of questions Republicans have about Joe’s involvement in Hunter’s businesses.
“Did the president know when he went to dinner with his son that he was going to get a Porsche? Did he know that when the son was selling ‘the brand’ that he was talking and using an email address that wasn’t his own name so people couldn’t find it?’ he asked Wednesday.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan addressed the White House directive to the media on Fox and Friends on Wednesday morning.
He said the Biden administration was caught by the Fifth Circuit censoring American speeches, so “I’m not surprised they’re telling the media what to do.”
The federal court ruled last week that the Biden administration violated the First Amendment by ordering social media companies to censor “misinformation.”
The advisory notes that, since at least early 2021, “a group of federal officials have been in regular contact with virtually every major U.S. social media company about the spread of ‘misinformation’ on their platforms.”
“Faced with defending the indefensible, the White House is now threatening the media to stop covering it,” House Oversight Committee spokesperson Jessica Collins told DailyMail.com.
She then blasted the White House for refusing to respond to Biden’s “involvement in his family’s influence,” which made his family millions.
The White House has maintained that Joe was never involved in his family’s business ventures.
Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has been tasked by McCarthy to lead the impeachment inquiry.
He will be joined by Jordan and House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo.
“Why is the White House sending letters to the media urging them to ‘intensify investigation into Biden’s impeachment inquiry?’ asked Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla.
“The American people deserve the truth. This is why trust in the media is still at near record lows,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Legal scholar Jonathan Turley said the letter “gives an uncomfortable sense of marching orders to the media.”
He also called it “remarkable” that the letter “removes any pretense of separation between Biden’s personal legal team and the White House counsel’s office.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., wondered: “Will the media follow the WH’s marching orders?’
Rep. Rudy Yakym, R-Ind., called the White House “brazen” for sending the directive.
We know the media was going to get involved in efforts to cover up this president anyway. You just don’t expect the White House to be so brazen in admitting their conspiracy.”
Republicans have accused Biden and his family of making millions from shell companies that Hunter Biden founded when his father was vice president.
Hunter had business deals with an energy company in Ukraine, acquired a stake in a private equity firm in China and consulted for a Romanian real estate magnate.
The president has denied any involvement in his son Hunter’s business activities. But Republicans allege at least a dozen Biden family members could be involved in a scheme to benefit financially from Biden’s public office
The president has denied any involvement in his son’s business activities.
But Republicans allege that at least a dozen Biden family members could be involved in a scheme to benefit financially from Biden’s public office.
House investigators are expected to issue subpoenas for the banking records of the president and his family. The Republican Party also claims that Biden had at least 24 conversations with Hunter’s business associates and was referred to as “the big guy” by Hunter’s business associates.
And they say Joe Biden used pseudonyms to discuss his activities regarding Ukraine with his son Hunter during his time as vice president.