White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended a decision by the Biden administration to send a letter to Fox News requesting a change of their coverage of the U.S. president.
"We understand how difficult it is for all of you," Jean-Pierre said while appearing on CNN. "We understand how important it is to report on the facts and to be accurate, and that's what we're asking for. We're asking to make sure that when reporting about issues that are critical, that American people are hearing about, it needs to be factual, and it needs to be accurate."
The context:
Earlier this week, CNN first reported that White House spokesperson Ian Sams sent a letter to executives at Fox News over its coverage of Hunter Biden, Joe Biden and the connection to Alexander Smirnov, an FBI informant who was arrested for lying to law enforcement about the Biden family business dealings.
"Despite this, Fox has taken no steps to retract, correct, or update its reporting on this false allegation from 2023," Sams said in the letter addressed to Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott, President Jay Wallace and Bryan Boughton, the bureau chief of Washington, D.C. for the network, CNN reported.
According to CNN, the letter asked for Fox News Digital articles on the topic to include "editors notes informing readers that the source of this allegation has been federally indicted for making it up."
"We also feel strongly that Fox News Channel television personalities like [Sean] Hannity and [Jesse] Watters, among others, should inform their viewers on air that they have been sharing a discredited allegation from a source who has been federally indicted for making it up," the letter added.
In a statement to Newsweek on Thursday, Fox News Media said, "FOX News Media has reported on all key developments since the announcement that Alexander Smirnov was charged with lying to the FBI, featuring the story prominently. We will continue to report on developments in all aspects of the ongoing investigations, hearings, and trials."
What we know:
On February 15, Department of Justice Special Counsel David C. Weiss announced that it was charging Smirnov, 43, with making false statements to the FBI about Hunter Biden's business dealings and how they related to Joe Biden.
"According to the indictment, Smirnov was a confidential human source (CHS) with the FBI. As alleged in the indictment, despite repeated admonishments that he must provide truthful information to the FBI and that he must not fabricate evidence, Smirnov provided false derogatory information to the FBI about Public Official 1, and Businessperson 1, the son of Public Official 1, in 2020, after Public Official 1 became a presidential candidate," Weiss's office said.
Weiss previously filed several charges against Hunter Biden relating to tax violations and for lying about his drug use when applying to receive a firearm in 2018.
The claims made by Smirnov also related to Republican efforts to impeach Joe Biden, as they have sought to uncover evidence that he benefited from his son's business dealings with foreign companies.
Views:
Shortly after Smirnov was arrested, Republican Senator Ron Johnson spoke out about the charges and the ongoing GOP-led investigation into Hunter Biden.
"Well, obviously, they knew the FBI had the laptop; they knew it was authentic; those intelligence officials who signed that letter were corrupt. They're in the tanks with the Biden administration—and by the way, Smirnov is innocent until proven guilty. Is this a corrupt investigation, a corrupt prosecution? I have no idea," Johnson said while appearing on Newsmax.
What's next:
Hunter Biden appeared before the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees on Wednesday for a deposition in Republicans' ongoing impeachment efforts of his father.
Democrats have continued to criticize the inquiry, with Representative Dan Goldman saying, "That first hour of this much-anticipated testimony was the nail in the coffin to what is a complete bogus and sham impeachment inquiry."
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said that the committee plans to release a transcript of Hunter Biden's testimony in the coming weeks.
Update 2/29/24, 8:18 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 2/29/24, 8:43 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
