Tuesday's lawsuit by Fox News contributor Rod Wheeler accusing the network and a wealthy GOP donor of working with the White House to promote a quickly retracted FoxNews.com article on the murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich has dragged President Trump, his aides, and Russia into the Rich imbroglio. But it also has Fox News employees wondering why nobody has been fired or exonerated since their network pulled the May 16 article on May 23, saying it did not meet "the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting," Oliver Darcy reports at CNNMoney, citing half a dozen people spread throughout Fox News.
In his lawsuit, Wheeler says reporter Malia Zimmerman made up quotes attributed to him suggesting he had evidence that Rich had been in contact with WikiLeaks before he was killed in what Washington, D.C., police say was likely a botched robbery. Trump supporter Ed Butowsky hired him, Wheeler claims, then accompanied him to the White House and coached Fox News personalities to spin the story as vindication for Trump, suggesting it disproves the assessment that DNC emails were hacked and leaked by Russians. If Wheeler's allegations are true, "it's really messed up," one Fox News on-air personality told CNN. Another employee said, "People need to start getting canned over the [Seth Rich] thing."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loomSpeed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panelsSpeed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of businessSpeed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pausesSpeed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocksSpeed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor dealSpeed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US SteelSpeed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
