WASHINGTON — The White House sent a memo to U.S. news organizations on Tuesday, calling on media to "scrutinize House Republicans' demonstrably false claims" surrounding their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
"It’s time for the media to ramp up its scrutiny of House Republicans for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies," said the memo, which was addressed to editorial leadership at media outlets. "When even House Republican members are admitting that there is simply no evidence that Joe Biden did anything wrong, much less impeachable, that should set off alarm bells for news organizations."
The memo was written by Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House counsel's office. He also sent a 14-page appendix that rebuts seven Republican claims and calls the impeachment inquiry "all politics and no evidence."
"We hope this document helps provide you with factual information useful in your reporting on their unprecedented, unfounded claims underlying an impeachment inquiry without any evidence of wrongdoing," Sams said.
The disputed claims include the allegation that "Biden has participated in his family's global business ventures with America's adversaries." In response to the claim, the White House pulled portions of congressional testimony from Hunter Biden's business associate Devon Archer, who testified that he is not aware of any wrongdoing by then-Vice President Biden.
"House Republican leaders should be held accountable for the fact that they are lurching toward impeachment over allegations that are not only unfounded but, in virtually all cases, have been actively disproven — including by witnesses and documents in their own investigations, as well as years-old congressional probes and even the former President’s first impeachment inquiry," Sams wrote in the memo.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced Tuesday that he was directing three House committees to open an impeachment inquiry into the president. The Republican-led committees have been probing the Biden family for months.
“This logical next step will give our committees the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public,” McCarthy said during remarks to reporters.
McCarthy does not appear to have the full support of his party and has faced criticism for the lack of evidence in GOP allegations of the president's wrongdoings. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sams’ memo.
"The time for impeachment is the time when there’s evidence linking President Biden — if there’s evidence linking President Biden to a high crime or misdemeanor. That doesn’t exist right now," said Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., during a Sunday MSNBC interview.
