Fox News just reached a lawsuit settlement Seth Rich’s parents. Seth Rich was a Democratic National Committee employee who was murdered in 2016. Fox News floated a conspiracy theory surrounding his death.
Seth Rich’s family wins lawsuit
In 2016, Seth Rich was working for the Democratic National Committee. Late one night in Washington, D.C. he was shot and killed in an apparent robbery attempt. Shortly after his tragic death, Fox News ran an article suggesting Seth Rich had leaked thousands of Democratic National Committee emails to WikiLeaks during the presidential campaign.
Other networks carried the story, alleging Rich had been assassinated for leaking the emails. The story was retracted by Fox News one week after publication, but by then it was too late.
Top anchors covered the story, including Sean Hannity and Lou Dobbs. The conspiracy theory has been debunked by U.S. intelligence reports. Fox host Sean Hannity said that he “retracted nothing,” but he would stop discussing the story “out of respect for the family’s wishes for now.”
Seth Rich’s parents accused Fox News of exploiting their son’s tragic death for ratings. The courts took action. A lower court had throwout the lawsuit, but the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan reinstated it.
The court said the family had claimed the false reports caused “emotional torture.” Neither side disclosed the financial terms of the deal. In a statement, Rich’s parents said the settlement closed another chapter in their efforts to mourn their son. Seth Rich was only 27-years-old at the time of his murder.
“We are pleased with the settlement of this matter and sincerely hope that the media will take genuine caution in the future,” the Rich family said. Fox News made a statement saying, “We are pleased with the resolution of the claims and hope this enables Mr. and Mrs. Rich to find a small degree of peace and solace moving forward.”
More Wikileaks controversy
Wikileaks is an international non-profit organization that publishes news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources.
The website has been surrounded by controversy over the years as it released sensitive documents pertaining to the Afghanistan War, the U.S. torture of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and the massive spy campaign by the U.S. National Security Agency.
In 2016, Wikileaks released sensitive emails and documents from Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta, which caused significant harm to the Clinton campaign.
