White House demands Fox News walk back Biden corruption claims

The White House has formally called on Fox News to walk back its coverage of bribery and corruption allegations against Joe Biden.

In a letter sent to Fox News executives, White House spokesperson Ian Sams accused the right-wing network of failing to “retract, correct, or update its reporting” on a false allegation made by FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov, about a bribery scheme worth millions involving the Bidens, according to CNN.

Mr Smirnov allegedly told the FBI that Hunter Biden, who sat on the board of Kyiv-based Burisma, used his father’s name to solicit millions of dollars in bribes from the company.

He also claimed that executives from Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, paid Hunter and Joe Biden $5m each around 2015 – a claim that was later reported by Fox News, among other outlets.

The claim, which has been central to attempts by Republicans to impeach the Bidens in Congress, was later found to be false.

Earlier this month, Mr Smirnov was charged by federal authorities for allegedly fabricating the story and even apparently confessed that Russian intelligence was involved in efforts to smear the president.

The White House has formally called on Fox News to walk back its coverage of bribery and corruption allegations against president Joe Biden

He has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison.

Despite the charges, the White House said, Fox News has refused to walk back the story in a meaningful way.

“I would cite the number of times Jesse Watters and Sean Hannity promoted this allegation and made false statements about President Biden on primetime television throughout this time period, but the footnote citations would fill multiple pages,” Mr Sams underscored in his letter to