Seth Rich
A week after pushing a story filled with lies and hearsay to further a murder conspiracy theory, Fox News has finally announced that it is retracting a story about the death of slain Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich. However, the local Fox affiliate has not retracted its largely debunked interview with a subject who recanted.
The parent network said: “On May 16, a story was posted on the Fox News website on the investigation into the 2016 murder of DNC Staffer Seth Rich. The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting. Upon appropriate review, the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed. We will continue to investigate this story and will provide updates as warranted.”
Rich was killed last July, near the 2100 block of Flagler Place NW in Bloomingdale . His family believes he was a victim of a robbery gone bad and his mother said at the time, “There had been a struggle. His hands were bruised, his knees are bruised, his face is bruised, and yet he had two shots to his back, and yet they never took anything.”
Right-wing conspiracists seized on the killing, claiming that Rich was killed because he had given WikiLeaks the DNC information. This has been debunked, as FBI officials have said that Rich’s computer had no correspondence with WikiLeaks. Then, the investigator, Rod Wheeler, who was spreading the allegations about Rich’s relationship with Wikileaks recanted his story.
The Fox News echo chamber had allowed Sean Hannity and Newt Gingrich to continue to propagate untruths about Rich’s death.
Congress, investigate Seth Rich Murder! @JulianAssange made comments u need to listen to! If Seth was wiki source, no Trump/Russia collusion https://t.co/QPHZwypU34
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) May 22, 2017
Rich’s family has also asked Fox News staff not to continue spreading lies:
NEW: Brother of Seth Rich pleads with @seanhannity to stop spreading conspiracy theory in letter to exec producer https://t.co/Z3VtVk2vRz pic.twitter.com/z0rphLWmXQ
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) May 23, 2017
Fox affiliate WTTG has kept its interview with Wheeler on the site, with this note: “EDITOR’S NOTE (5/17/17): We want to update you on a story you first saw on FOX 5 DC. We want to make an important clarification on claims that were made by Rod Wheeler, the private investigator hired by Seth Rich’s family, whose services are being paid for by a third party. What he told FOX 5 DC on camera Monday regarding Seth Rich’s murder investigation is in clear contrast to what he has said over the last 48 hours. Rod Wheeler has since backtracked.”
The Rich family issued a statement:
Statement from Rich family spokesman Brad Bauman: pic.twitter.com/8tVb4BTKEQ
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) May 23, 2017
