Fox News host Sean Hannity and Fox Business host Lou Dobbs will be deposed under oath about the network’s coverage of Seth Rich’s death, The Daily Beast reports.
Rich, a 27-year-old Democratic National Committee staffer, was murdered in Washington DC in July 2016 in what police described as a likely armed robbery. But the network pushed conspiracy theories linking Rich’s murder to the cyberattacks on the DNC during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Now, Hannity, Dobbs, and other Fox staffers will be deposed in October over the network’s false claims that Rich was killed because he leaked the Democratic emails released by WikiLeaks.
The deposition is part of an emotional distress and tortious interference lawsuit filed by parents Joel and Mary Rich against Fox News, Fox News reporter Malia Zimmerman, and former Fox News guest Ed Butowsky.
Conservatives tried to pin Russian attack on Rich:
The murder became fodder for Trump supporters, who baselessly alleged that Hillary Clinton had Rich killed in retaliation for leaking the emails.
“Conveniently, this conspiracy theory would mean that Rich, not Russian hackers, was behind the theft of the emails and their publication by WikiLeaks,” The Daily Beast noted. “The claim has gone on to be repeatedly debunked, by both former Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee.”
Fox pushes conspiracy:
Zimmerman reported on Fox News’ website that the FBI found WikiLeaks ties on Rich’s computer and Hannity became a vocal supporter of the conspiracy theory.
Hannity called Zimmerman’s report “one of the biggest scandals in American history.”
Fox News ultimately retracted its reporting but Hannity was undeterred.
“I retracted nothing,” he said at the time.
Host Laura Ingraham also pushed the conspiracy theory but Fox has refused to allow Ingraham to be deposed.
The Rich family is also seeking to depose legal analyst Andrew Napolitano, Fox pundit Newt Gingrich, and several top executives.
