By DANIEL VICTOR
May 23, 2017
Fox News on Tuesday retracted a May 16 story about the murder of a former Democratic National Committee staff member, Seth Conrad Rich, which has stirred conspiracy theories that have been pushed by Sean Hannity, one of the network’s biggest stars.
“The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting,” Fox News said in its statement. “Upon appropriate review, the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed.”
The retraction appeared to put the network’s news-gathering operation at odds with Mr. Hannity, who serves as a commentator. On Twitter, Mr. Hannity has been unapologetic about his focus on Mr. Rich’s murder.
Mr. Hannity is not the only Fox News personality to embrace the theory. Newt Gingrich discussed the case on “Fox and Friends” on Sunday, and Geraldo Rivera, a correspondent at large, tweeted about it on Monday.
Mr. Rich, 27, was shot in the back near his home in Washington in July. The Washington Metropolitan Police Department is still investigating, but his family believes he was murdered during a failed robbery.
Some right-wing commentators have suggested that Mr. Rich had shared material with WikiLeaks, and that the death was a form of retribution. No evidence to support the theory has emerged.
Mr. Rich’s family has called the politicization of his death “painful” and “debilitating” and asked for retractions and apologies from the outlets that had promoted the story.
Kim Dotcom, an internet entrepreneur who is wanted in the United States for racketeering charges, said in a statement that he had evidence that Mr. Rich was a WikiLeaks source, but he has not offered the evidence publicly.
Over the weekend, Mr. Hannity extended an invitation to Mr. Dotcom to appear on his show. On Tuesday, Aaron Rich, who is the brother of Seth Rich, sent a letter to the executive producer of “The Sean Hannity Show,” asking that Mr. Hannity not allow Mr. Dotcom on the show, according to CNN.
“Nobody wants to solve Seth’s murder more than we do,” Aaron Rich said. “However, providing a platform to spread potentially false, damaging information will cause us additional pain, suffering and sorrow. By airing this information, you will continue to emotionally hurt us.”