- Wed May 24, 2017 8:20 am
#87981
Fox Retracts, Hannity Silenced on Conspiracy About Slain DNC Staffer
Fox News announced Tuesday it had retracted a story published last week that reignited conspiracy theories around the unsolved killing of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, whose family demanded an apology from the conservative news network.
Later Tuesday, the conspiracy's most prominent proponent, Fox News' Sean Hannity, announced on his show that he would stop discussing the case "for now." It was a major back-down for the well-known host who had used his Twitter account earlier to vow he would never be silenced by "Liberal Fascism."
Hannity said he made the decision to go mum on the killing "out of respect for the family's wishes."
Fox News, citing a single unnamed FBI source, had reported that Rich, who was murdered last year in Washington, D.C., was a potential source of internal DNC emails published by Wikileaks last summer, implying that he was assassinated for the leak.
The report immediately caught fire among supporters of President Donald Trump as a preferable alternative explanation to the one put forward by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials, who have always maintained that Russian hackers were behind the breach.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich amplified the conspiracy theory on Fox News Sunday.
On Tuesday, Fox retracted the story.
Fox News announced Tuesday it had retracted a story published last week that reignited conspiracy theories around the unsolved killing of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, whose family demanded an apology from the conservative news network.
Later Tuesday, the conspiracy's most prominent proponent, Fox News' Sean Hannity, announced on his show that he would stop discussing the case "for now." It was a major back-down for the well-known host who had used his Twitter account earlier to vow he would never be silenced by "Liberal Fascism."
Hannity said he made the decision to go mum on the killing "out of respect for the family's wishes."
Fox News, citing a single unnamed FBI source, had reported that Rich, who was murdered last year in Washington, D.C., was a potential source of internal DNC emails published by Wikileaks last summer, implying that he was assassinated for the leak.
The report immediately caught fire among supporters of President Donald Trump as a preferable alternative explanation to the one put forward by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials, who have always maintained that Russian hackers were behind the breach.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich amplified the conspiracy theory on Fox News Sunday.
On Tuesday, Fox retracted the story.