The White House sent out a memo calling on news outlets to “do more to scrutinize House Republicans.” It included 14 pages of talking points for them to use when defending President Joe Biden in the newly launched impeachment inquiry.

Its cover email reads like a call to arms for state-controlled news outlets. It says, “It’s time for the media to ramp up its scrutiny of House Republicans for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies.” Since when does the White House declare that it’s time for supposedly independent news outlets to attack its political enemies? It also calls on the media to break from the normal news cycles while launching these attacks. It says they shouldn’t cover the impeachment as just a “process story,” where, as it states, coverage may include “Republicans say X, but the White House says Y.” No, instead of covering the news and showing both sides, the memo calls for more active attacks against House Republican leaders.