After an ex-FBI informant was charged with lying about bribery claims involving the Biden family, the White House is requesting Fox News update and correct its coverage.
In a letter obtained by Scripps News, special assistant to the president and White House spokesman for oversight and investigations Ian Sams wrote the network should "at a minimum" update its digital articles to include an editor's note “informing readers that the source of this allegation has been federally indicted for making it up.”
Sams is referring to Alexander Smirnov, 43, who earlier this week pleaded not guilty to charges brought against him indicating he lied about a multi-million-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Smirnov, the indictment indicated, made up the claim that each of the Bidens was paid $5 million by Burisma due to Smirnov's own political bias and ties to Russian intelligence. He was ordered to remain behind bars as he awaits trial.
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The bribery claim he made was a central part of House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry of President Biden.
"Despite this, Fox has taken no steps to retract, correct, or update its reporting on this false allegation from 2023," Sams' letter to Fox News leadership says. "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."
“It is clear that Fox itself, at one point, acknowledged the dangers of promulgating false allegations on this topic from these types of sources — yet, less than four years later, Fox has alarmingly reversed course. This is in need of correction," the letter adds.
A spokesperson for Fox News told Scripps News "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.”
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