The White House sent a letter to major media outlets asking them to investigate the “lies” behind the GOP plan to impeach President Joe Biden, sparking outrage from Republicans.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced a formal impeachment investigation against Joe Biden on Tuesday over allegations of corruption and involvement in his son Hunter’s business dealings.
The move sparked heated reactions from Democrats and prompted the White House to send a letter to major media outlets asking them to investigate the “lies” behind the impeachment drive.
“It is time for the media to step up its scrutiny of House Republicans for launching an impeachment inquiry based on falsehoods,” White House spokesman Ian Sams wrote in the letter that lists the public comments from a handful of Republicans not in favor of impeachment.
Media outlets targeted included CNN, The New York Times, Associated Press and Fox News.
Republicans spoke out against the White House’s decision, calling it an attempt to threaten the media into submission.
The Biden administration is sending a letter to many of the nation’s major news organizations asking them to investigate “lies” in the GOP impeachment inquiry.
McCarthy said Wednesday that it was “really concerning” that the White House was “telling the press what to say.”
He said the press should “want to know the answers” to a series of questions Republicans are asking about Joe’s involvement in Hunter’s businesses.
“Did the president know, when he went to dinner with his son, that he would have a Porsche? Did he know when his son was selling “the brand”, when he was talking and using an email address that was not her own name so people can’t find her? he asked on Wednesday.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan issued the White House directive to Fox and Friends media Wednesday morning.
He said the Fifth Circuit found that the Biden administration was censoring American speech, so “it doesn’t surprise me that 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 “disinformation.”
The notice notes that, at least since early 2021, “a group of federal officials has been in regular contact with nearly every major U.S. social media company about the spread of ‘disinformation’ on their platforms.”
“When faced with defending the indefensible, the White House is now threatening the media to stop reporting on it,” Jessica Collins, a spokeswoman for the House Oversight Committee, told DailyMail.com.
She then criticized the White House for refusing to answer about Biden’s “involvement in his family’s influence peddling” that earned her family millions.
The White House maintained that Joe was never involved in the family businesses.
Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., was tapped by McCarthy to lead the impeachment inquiry.
He will be assisted 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 their review of the Biden impeachment inquiry?” » asked Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla.
“The American people deserve the truth. This is why trust in the media remains at a near-record high,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Legal scholar Jonathan Turley said the letter “gives an uncomfortable sense of marching order 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., questioned: “Will be the do the media follow OM’s marching orders?
Rep. Rudy Yakym, R-Ind., called the White House “brazen” for sending the directive.
We know that the media was going to intervene anyway to try to cover up this president. You just don’t expect the White House to be so brazen in admitting collusion.
Republicans have accused Biden and his family of making millions from shell companies Hunter Biden created when his father was vice president.
Hunter struck business deals with an energy company in Ukraine, received a discounted stake in a private equity firm in China and did consulting work for a Romanian real estate tycoon.
The president has denied any involvement in his son Hunter’s business dealings. But Republicans say at least a dozen Biden family members may be involved in a scheme to financially benefit from Biden’s public office.
The president has denied any involvement in his son’s affairs.
But Republicans say at least a dozen Biden family members may be involved in a scheme to financially benefit from Biden’s public office.
House investigators are expected to issue subpoenas for the banking records of the president and his family. The GOP also claims Biden participated in at least 24 calls with Hunter’s business partners and was referred to as “the big guy” by Hunter’s business associates.
And they say Joe Biden used pseudonyms to discuss his Ukraine-related activities with his son Hunter while he was vice president.
