A wealthy Trump supporter and a Fox News producer conspired to run a fake story about the death of a Democratic National Committee staffer while the White House looked on, a lawsuit has alleged.
Rod Wheeler, the detective cited in Fox News' controversial story about the fatal shooting of DNC staffer Seth Rich, has filed suit against the company for allegedly fabricating his quotes and pressuring him to push a false narrative.
“According to the complaint … Fox News was working with the Trump administration to disseminate fake news in order to distract the public from Russia's alleged attempts to influence our country's presidential election,” Mr Wheeler’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, said in a statement.
Mr Wheeler was Fox News' prime source for a story claiming Mr Rich may have been murdered for releasing unflattering DNC emails to Wikileaks. According to the suit, however, Mr Wheeler never found evidence to support this.
Instead, Fox News producer Malia Zimmerman and prominent Trump donor Ed Butowsky pressured him to say so – even taking him to a meeting with then-White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer – in an effort to detract attention from the Russia investigation.
"Not to add any more pressure but the president just read the article,” Mr Butowsky allegedly texted Mr Wheeler shortly before the article was published. “He wants the article out immediately. It's now all up to you."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/white-house-fake-news-seth-rich-death-russia-distract-fox-news-donald-trump-dnc-staff-lawsuit-a7871321.html
Rod Wheeler, the detective cited in Fox News' controversial story about the fatal shooting of DNC staffer Seth Rich, has filed suit against the company for allegedly fabricating his quotes and pressuring him to push a false narrative.
“According to the complaint … Fox News was working with the Trump administration to disseminate fake news in order to distract the public from Russia's alleged attempts to influence our country's presidential election,” Mr Wheeler’s attorney, Douglas Wigdor, said in a statement.
Mr Wheeler was Fox News' prime source for a story claiming Mr Rich may have been murdered for releasing unflattering DNC emails to Wikileaks. According to the suit, however, Mr Wheeler never found evidence to support this.
Instead, Fox News producer Malia Zimmerman and prominent Trump donor Ed Butowsky pressured him to say so – even taking him to a meeting with then-White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer – in an effort to detract attention from the Russia investigation.
"Not to add any more pressure but the president just read the article,” Mr Butowsky allegedly texted Mr Wheeler shortly before the article was published. “He wants the article out immediately. It's now all up to you."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/white-house-fake-news-seth-rich-death-russia-distract-fox-news-donald-trump-dnc-staff-lawsuit-a7871321.html