President Joe Biden's White House is calling upon Fox News to retract its reporting about the corruption and bribery allegations that have been made against Biden.
The White House, according to CNN, did so in a letter that it sent to Fox News' leadership this past week.
White House spokesperson Ian Sams wrote the letter.
Before we get to what Sams had to say - or, rather, what Sams ordered Fox to do - some context is needed.
It has been alleged that Biden, when he was vice president, fired the Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company. This all took place when Biden's son, Hunter Biden, happened to be on the company's board.
An FBI informant claimed that there was more to this story. The informant claimed that both Joe Biden and Hunter Biden were each given $5 million in exchange for getting the prosecutor fired.
Now, however, this FBI informant's information has been called into question. This is because the informant, Alexander Smirnov, has been indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
The DOJ claims that Smirnov was essentially working for the Russians when he made this claim - that he received the Biden bribery allegation from Russian intelligence personnel.
It is now being claimed that the allegation was made up.
Now, the White House wants Fox to retract its reporting about the alleged bribery scheme.
In the letter, the White House chastised Fox for having "taken no steps to retract, correct, or update its reporting on this false allegation from 2023," and it called upon Fox to withdraw this reporting.
Sams wrote:
We feel strongly that all Fox News Digital articles on this topic should at a minimum be updated with editor’s 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 Hannity and 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.
Fox has responded to this letter with its own statement, suggesting that there is no need to retract anything.
A Fox spokesperson 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.
