Immediately following news of House Republicans’ plans to initiate an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, the White House issued a memo to editorial leaders of media organizations across the United States, calling on the media to cover the process with increased scrutiny because it is “based on lies.”
Correspondence from Ian Sams, the special assistant to the president and senior adviser and spokesman for the White House Counsel’s Office, said that in the shifting media climate, “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.”
MCCARTHY ANNOUNCES IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY INTO PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN
He said, “It’s time for the media to ramp up its scrutiny of House Republicans for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) directed the House of Representatives on Tuesday to open an impeachment inquiry into Biden over business dealings by his family, including his son Hunter Biden. The business transactions have been closely investigated by the House Oversight Committee under Chairman James Comer (R-KY).
“These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction, and corruption, and they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives,” McCarthy said of the move.
In the memo, Sams claimed, “Reporting that solely focuses on process rather than substance is woefully inadequate.”
He pointed to some Republican House members who have expressed hesitance regarding an impeachment inquiry into the president. “That should set off alarm bells for news organizations,” he wrote.
According to Sams, the press have a responsibility to scrutinize House Republicans’ claims related to the inquiry. Simply relaying what Republicans claim and how the White House responds, he said, “is a disservice to the American public who relies on the independent press to hold those in power accountable.”
Sams further claimed that the allegations against the president are “unfounded,” saying they, “in virtually all cases, have been actively disproven.”
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The White House memo to media organization leadership included a 14-page appendix comprehensively fact-checking what it called “key lies” being pushed by House Republicans.
The list of media organizations that received the memo is unknown.
