The work of Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in exposing the Watergate scandal during the 1970s is often held up as the gold standard of watchdog journalism. It ultimately led to the resignation of Richard Nixon as president and the imprisonment of his lawyer, John Dean.

Last week, the White House invited a handful of giddy conservative influencers to “policy briefings” with top administration officials like Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel. The influencers,