Parents of Seth Rich Slam Fox News on GMA: ‘They Took More From Us With The Lies’
The parents of slain Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich appeared on Good Morning America to speak out about the lawsuit they just filed against Fox News.
Joel and Mary Rich spoke with ABC News’ Tom Llamas about the suit against Fox News, an investigative reporter and a network guest over a retracted report by the outlet that added fuel to the conspiracy that their son was killed because of his ties to Wikileaks.
“Throughout my interview with the family they described the torture of dealing with their son’s murder while battling with what they called lies from the Fox News Channel,” Llamas said.
“I want the people who started the lies, who are responsible for the lies held accountable,” an emotional Mary Rich said on GMA. “This has gotta stop. This has gotta stop in America. And we’re gonna try to help stop it.”
Mary also pushed back on the claims that her son had any of the DNC’s emails that the conspiracy theory alleges he sent to Wikileaks.
“His computer didn’t have anything on it. He would never have done it,” she said on GMA.
Rich was fatally shot in Washington D.C. in July 2016, and while police have yet to solve the murder, they have repeatedly stressed that there is no evidence the DNC staffer was killed because he sent the hacked DNC emails to Wikileaks — as the conspiracy theory claims.
FoxNews.com swiftly retracted the story on Rich, written by reporter Malia Zimmerman, after it was debunked. But Fox News’s Sean Hannity continued to cover the story on his primetime show, despite all available evidence and pleas from the family to stop exploiting their son’s murder for political gain. He eventually dropped the story after speaking directly with Rich’s family, telling his audience they asked him to pull back.
“They never called us to check any facts, they took a rumor and ran with it,” Mary Rich said on GMA. “We lost his body the first time, and the second time we lost his soul. They took more from us with the lies. We want our son’s life and his soul restored and I want our life back so we can move forward again.”
Llamas reported that the Rich family said they never received an apology from Fox News for the coverage.
“We can’t comment on this pending litigation,” Fox News said when reached for comment.
[image via screengrab]
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