Fox News seeks dismissal of suit by contributor who said he was used to deflect Trump-Russia story

Source: LA Times

Fox News has filed a motion to dismiss a defamation and discrimination lawsuit filed by a former contributor who said he was used by the network in a plot to downplay reporting on President Trump’s ties to Russia.

Rob Wheeler, a private investigator and former Washington, D.C., police detective, alleged in a suit filed Aug. 1 that Fox News fabricated quotes by him in an online story that suggested that the death of Seth Rich, a Democratic operative, was related to the leak of Democratic National Committee documents to WikiLeaks. Wheeler had been hired by Rich’s family to look into their son’s unsolved July 10, 2016, slaying.

The story published on FoxNews.com quoted Wheeler as saying that Rich had exchanged emails with WikiLeaks. The story was retracted and removed from the site with Fox News stating that it did not meet its standards.

Wheeler said the story was an attempt by Fox News and Ed Butowski, a Trump supporter also named in the suit, to “shift the blame from Russia and help put to bed speculation that President Trump colluded with Russia in an attempt to influence the outcome of the presidential election.”

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-seth-rich-fox-20170919-story.html