Two of the biggest proponents of Fox’s vile smears of murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich will have to do some ‘splaining under oath about their role in promoting the debunked conspiracy theory that Rich, not the Russians, leaked DNC emails to WikiLeaks.
According to The Daily Beast, the depositions, which are part of the Rich family’s lawsuit against Fox, are scheduled for October 30 (Hannity) and October 7, (Dobbs), along with other top Fox execs this fall. The family is also seeking to depose Judge Andrew Napolitano and Newt Gingrich.
The depositions may finally do what Fox promised in May, 2017, but never delivered: provide an explanation as to how it came to publish the story it retracted along with a still-unfulfilled promise to “provide updates as warranted.”
That is, unless Fox offers a big settlement and the family signs a non-disclosure agreement. Also, Daily Beast author Will Sommer notes, "the depositions will only become public if they’re released as part of the case."
There are a few intriguing questions raised by The Daily Beast report.
1. Why is Fox fighting the effort to depose Laura Ingraham?
From Sommer:
“Fox’s counsel said yesterday that they would refuse to allow one of those employees (Laura Ingraham) to be deposed,” the [court filing by the Rich family] reads.
It’s not clear from court records whether Fox similarly tried to stop depositions of Hannity and Dobbs. But in the court filing, a lawyer for the Rich family writes that, aside from depositions for Ingraham and a corporate representative of Fox News, “every single other Fox News employee has been scheduled,” including Hannity and Dobbs.
At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I am willing to bet that somebody on Team Trump had a hand in this journalistic malpractice. As I wrote last month, given Hannity's chumminess with Donald Trump and that he has been dubbed Trump's "unofficial chief of staff," you don't need to know how to connect the dots to know they probably connect somehow. Now, I have to wonder what Fox is trying to hide about Ingraham.
2. What about Malia Zimmerman? She wrote the original, now-retracted report that led Hannity, et al. to scapegoat Seth Rich on the air. She is also a defendant in the Rich’s lawsuit. Her Twitter bio indicates she’s still employed as an investigative reporter for Fox. l but has not done any public work since August, 2017. Yet she reportedly attended a meeting of right-wing activists, in September, 2017, after her reporting had been retracted, in which wiretapping the Rich family was discussed.
The Daily Beast article does not say whether she will be or has been deposed.
I’m hoping the Rich family gets a big check, a public apology and a public accounting of what happened.
Stay tuned.
(Hannity image via screen grab)
Antoinette, I actually expected a settlement before the suit got this far. As much as I’d love the Rich family to hold out for both big bucks and airing Fox’s dirty laundry, my wish is that they get whatever it is that they are looking for.
These worthless Fox “News” frauds don’t lock their dirty laundry aired in public, especially the Long Island Omen, Hanniepie.