Fox News Fabricated Quotes About Seth Rich Murder to Shift Focus From Russia, Lawsuit Says
Aug 1, 2017 11:08:57 #
slatten49
Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas
The Wrap, August 1, 2017
Fox News and a Donald Trump supporter worked together to make up a story about the murder of Seth Rich, a former Democratic National Committee aide, in order to distract viewers from growing concerns regarding Russian collusion, according to claims made in a lawsuit that has been obtained by TheWrap.
Longtime contributor Rod Wheeler filed the lawsuit against Fox News Channel on Tuesday in the Southern District of New York. Wheeler says that Fox News and Trump supporter Ed Butowsky sought to shift public attention away from Russia and fabricated quotes to help the narrative. The suit claims that an article by Malia Zimmerman was published to “establish that Seth Rich provided WikiLeaks with the DNC emails to shift the blame from Russia.”
Rich was murdered last year in what police call a botched robbery, but multiple conspiracy theorists have said his death had something to do with WikiLeaks.
Fox News president Jay Wallace told NPR there was no “concrete evidence” that false or misleading quotes were attributed to Wheeler. Fox News eventually retracted the story about Rich, saying it did not meet the network’s “high degree of editorial scrutiny.”
21st Century Fox, reporter Malia Zimmerman and wealthy Trump supporter Butowsky are named as defendants in the suit. The first page of the suit quotes a voicemail and text from Butowsky, in which he wrote that President Trump himself had reviewed unpublished drafts of the Fox News story just before it went to air and was published. The text said Trump wanted the story out “immediately.”
“Not to add any more pressure but the president just read the article,” the text read, according to the lawsuit. “He wants the article out immediately. It’s not all up to you. But don’t feel the pressure,” Butowsky’s text to Wheeler went on, according to the suit. The “president” referred to in this text message is President Donald Trump, the suit says.
According to the legal filing, the fabricated quotes by Wheeler include: “My investigation up to this point shows there was some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and Wikileaks.”
“Wheeler was subsequently forced to correct the false record and, as a result, lost all credibility in the eyes of the public. Mr. Wheeler has suffered irreparable damage to his reputation and his career will likely never recover,” the suit claims.
Fox News did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. 21st Century Fox told TheWrap to go directly to Fox News.
The lawsuit says that Butowsky is “an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump and opponent of Hillary Clinton, and a friend to former Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon.”
Wheeler is a former Washington D.C. Police homicide detective and current private investigative consultant, crime analyst and Fox News contributor. The suit says Butowsky hired Wheeler to investigate Rich’s murder.
“As it turned out, Butowsky and Zimmerman were not simply Good Samaritans attempting to solve a murder. Rather, they were interested in advancing a political agenda for the Trump Administration,” the suit says.
The suit continues: “Specifically, it was their aim to have Mr. Wheeler confirm that: Seth Rich was responsible for the leak of DNC emails to WikiLeaks; and Seth Rich was murdered by a Democrat operative because he leaked the emails to WikiLeaks.”
According to the court document, Butowsky and Zimmerman sought to link Rich to leaked DNC emails to WikiLeaks and debunk reports the Russians were actually responsible for the DNC hacks.
“Rod Wheeler unfortunately was used as a pawn by Ed Butowsky, Fox News and the Trump administration to try and steer away the attention that was being given about the Russian hacking of the DNC e-mails,” Wheeler’s lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, told NPR.
Back in May, Rich’s family blasted Fox News and other outlets for promoting unfounded versions of the story.
“It’s sad but unsurprising that a group of media outlets who have repeatedly lied to the American people would try and manipulate the legacy of a murder victim in order to forward their own political agenda,” a spokesman for the Rich family told Business Insider at the time. “I think there is a special place in hell for people like that.”
Fox News and a Donald Trump supporter worked together to make up a story about the murder of Seth Rich, a former Democratic National Committee aide, in order to distract viewers from growing concerns regarding Russian collusion, according to claims made in a lawsuit that has been obtained by TheWrap.
Longtime contributor Rod Wheeler filed the lawsuit against Fox News Channel on Tuesday in the Southern District of New York. Wheeler says that Fox News and Trump supporter Ed Butowsky sought to shift public attention away from Russia and fabricated quotes to help the narrative. The suit claims that an article by Malia Zimmerman was published to “establish that Seth Rich provided WikiLeaks with the DNC emails to shift the blame from Russia.”
Rich was murdered last year in what police call a botched robbery, but multiple conspiracy theorists have said his death had something to do with WikiLeaks.
Fox News president Jay Wallace told NPR there was no “concrete evidence” that false or misleading quotes were attributed to Wheeler. Fox News eventually retracted the story about Rich, saying it did not meet the network’s “high degree of editorial scrutiny.”
21st Century Fox, reporter Malia Zimmerman and wealthy Trump supporter Butowsky are named as defendants in the suit. The first page of the suit quotes a voicemail and text from Butowsky, in which he wrote that President Trump himself had reviewed unpublished drafts of the Fox News story just before it went to air and was published. The text said Trump wanted the story out “immediately.”
“Not to add any more pressure but the president just read the article,” the text read, according to the lawsuit. “He wants the article out immediately. It’s not all up to you. But don’t feel the pressure,” Butowsky’s text to Wheeler went on, according to the suit. The “president” referred to in this text message is President Donald Trump, the suit says.
According to the legal filing, the fabricated quotes by Wheeler include: “My investigation up to this point shows there was some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and Wikileaks.”
“Wheeler was subsequently forced to correct the false record and, as a result, lost all credibility in the eyes of the public. Mr. Wheeler has suffered irreparable damage to his reputation and his career will likely never recover,” the suit claims.
Fox News did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. 21st Century Fox told TheWrap to go directly to Fox News.
The lawsuit says that Butowsky is “an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump and opponent of Hillary Clinton, and a friend to former Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon.”
Wheeler is a former Washington D.C. Police homicide detective and current private investigative consultant, crime analyst and Fox News contributor. The suit says Butowsky hired Wheeler to investigate Rich’s murder.
“As it turned out, Butowsky and Zimmerman were not simply Good Samaritans attempting to solve a murder. Rather, they were interested in advancing a political agenda for the Trump Administration,” the suit says.
The suit continues: “Specifically, it was their aim to have Mr. Wheeler confirm that: Seth Rich was responsible for the leak of DNC emails to WikiLeaks; and Seth Rich was murdered by a Democrat operative because he leaked the emails to WikiLeaks.”
According to the court document, Butowsky and Zimmerman sought to link Rich to leaked DNC emails to WikiLeaks and debunk reports the Russians were actually responsible for the DNC hacks.
“Rod Wheeler unfortunately was used as a pawn by Ed Butowsky, Fox News and the Trump administration to try and steer away the attention that was being given about the Russian hacking of the DNC e-mails,” Wheeler’s lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, told NPR.
Back in May, Rich’s family blasted Fox News and other outlets for promoting unfounded versions of the story.
“It’s sad but unsurprising that a group of media outlets who have repeatedly lied to the American people would try and manipulate the legacy of a murder victim in order to forward their own political agenda,” a spokesman for the Rich family told Business Insider at the time. “I think there is a special place in hell for people like that.”
Aug 1, 2017 11:33:47 #
Add this to the trump f**e news feed.
Breaking News from Newsmax.com
The Washington Post reports that President Donald Trump dictated a statement, later shown to be misleading, in which his son Donald Trump Jr. said a meeting he had with a Russian lawyer in June 2016 was not related to his father's p**********l campaign. Trump Jr. released emails in July that showed he eagerly agreed last year to meet a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Hillary Clinton as part of Moscow's official support for his father
Breaking News from Newsmax.com
The Washington Post reports that President Donald Trump dictated a statement, later shown to be misleading, in which his son Donald Trump Jr. said a meeting he had with a Russian lawyer in June 2016 was not related to his father's p**********l campaign. Trump Jr. released emails in July that showed he eagerly agreed last year to meet a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Hillary Clinton as part of Moscow's official support for his father
Aug 1, 2017 14:56:39 #
lpnmajor
Loc: Arkansas
moldyoldy wrote:
Add this to the trump f**e news feed. br br br B... (show quote)
Ah yes, the meeting Trump said he knew nothing about. BTW, the very meeting he said he received an e-mail about - and determined was a "nothing" event, just like Trump Jr. keeps saying.
What do you think will happen when Mueller gets warrants for all electronic communications of the Trump organization/family - including international traffic? These poor souls believe that deleting e-mails or tweets makes them go away forever, not understanding the true nature of electronic "stuff" - which persists on a server somewhere forever.
Aug 1, 2017 16:21:02 #
lpnmajor wrote:
Ah yes, the meeting Trump said he knew nothing abo... (show quote)
I just wish it was going faster. The drip, drip, drip, must be a flood in Mueller's office.
Aug 1, 2017 17:24:36 #
lpnmajor
Loc: Arkansas
moldyoldy wrote:
I just wish it was going faster. The drip, drip, drip, must be a flood in Mueller's office.
He will not announce a finish to the investigation, until he has answers for every conceivable question - and the proof is "wiggle proof", since trump has a knack for avoiding responsibility. He KNOWS trump will throw anyone under the bus, including his beloved family, so he intends for the "box" to be cockroach proof. It will take time.............he has 40 years of crap to wade through.
Aug 1, 2017 17:37:22 #
lpnmajor wrote:
He will not announce a finish to the investigation, until he has answers for every conceivable question - and the proof is "wiggle proof", since trump has a knack for avoiding responsibility. He KNOWS trump will throw anyone under the bus, including his beloved family, so he intends for the "box" to be cockroach proof. It will take time.............he has 40 years of crap to wade through.
You are right, but I am concerned about the damage he will do in the mean time.
Aug 1, 2017 17:57:02 #
moldyoldy wrote:
You are right, but I am concerned about the damage he will be fixing in the mean time.
We finally agree.......Punk!
Aug 1, 2017 18:43:03 #
Aug 2, 2017 04:21:09 #
I've always admitted to being a punk, Moldy......there goes what little game you thought you had, bummer. .......Punk!
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