Sean Hannity has been busy promoting a wild, unproven conspiracy about Seth Rich, the DNC staffer who was murdered in D.C. last summer. The heartbreaking details have become fodder for right-wing conspiracy websites—ones that Sean Hannity must be reading:
On July 10, at 4:19 a.m., gunfire was detected in the District's Bloomingdale neighborhood. Not five minutes later, police found Seth Rich, a 27-year-old Democratic National Committee staffer, lying on the ground, dying from a bullet wound to his back. A conscious Rich was transported to the hospital; by daybreak, he was dead.
Right-wing conspiracy websites have been peddling a conspiracy that Rich was tied to the Wikileaks release of DNC emails and that he was murdered as a result. From CNN:
But for months, right-wing media outlets have floated unproven theories that Rich was the person who provided Wikileaks with thousands of internal DNC emails, and suggested his death was retribution for the supposed leak. No real evidence has been provided to support such claims.
The theory resurfaced with a vengeance last week, in part due to an incorrect Fox News story the outlet has yet to retract. Hannity and other Fox News personalities seized on the story and have pushed the discredited theory.
Seize he did, dedicating significant air time to the unproven conspiracy within the last week:
Sean Hannity, who's now a sort of elder statesman in Fox News's prime time lineup, devoted parts of three episodes this week to the Rich story. The first of these episodes ended in a wreck, with Wheeler giving his last public interview to date, recanting much of his story about Rich and babbling about how a credible source told him a story consistent with, perhaps, Rich having emailed WikiLeaks.
Hannity’s next guest on the subject of this particular conspiracy Kim Dotcom, who reached out to Hannity on Twitter. Kim Dotcom is currently facing extradition to the United States for charges including conspiracy to commit racketeering and money laundering.
Aaron Rich, brother of the murder victim, publicly released a letter (via CNN) targeted at Hannity and his producer, Porter Berry. Their message, seen below, is simple—STOP. Do not have Kim Dotcom on as a guest to further wild conspiracies. Rich pleads with Hannity, saying, “We are asking for your decency and kindness on this topic.”
How utterly horrifying for the entire Rich family to still be dealing with these conspiracies a year later.
Meanwhile, even Hannity’s colleagues at Fox News are embarrassed by his promotion of this conspiracy:
The Daily Beast spoke to nearly a dozen reporters, pundits, and hosts inside Fox News who all conveyed the same sentiment: Hannity is “embarrassing” the network, and the promotion of the Rich conspiracy theory is senselessly cruel to a grieving family.
“ARE WE STILL AIRING THAT SHIT?!” one Fox News political reporter, who says they are furious that the conservative cable-news giant is entertaining the conspiracy theory, messaged The Daily Beast when informed of recent coverage.
Does Hannity have a kind or decent bone in his body? Don’t count on it. Not even 10 minutes after this letter was published on CNN, Hannity was on Twitter promoting Kim Dotcom’s conspiracy about Rich.
