'OUT OF RESPECT' - Hannity Weasels Out of Seth Rich Conspiracy

The Fox News anchor said Tuesday night that ‘for now’ he would not discuss the unfounded conspiracy theory he’s been pushing relentlessly—but failed to mention the real reason why.

ANDREW KIRELL, LLOYD GROVE, ASAWIN SUEBSAENG 05.24.17 1:00 AM ET

Faced with widespread expressions of disgust from liberal groups, journalism watchdogs and even his own Fox News colleagues, Sean Hannity didn’t double down Tuesday night on his fact-free promotion of an unfounded conspiracy theory that 27-year-old Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was murdered in Washington, D.C., last July because he talked to WikiLeaks.

Instead, Hannity weaseled out of it.

“Out of respect for the family’s wishes, for now, I am not discussing this matter at this time,” Fox News’ 10 p.m. host announced—after using his radio and television programs to push the widely debunked claim, hinted at by the less than reputable Julian Assange, that Rich was whacked as payback for leaking the politically damaging DNC emails to WikiLeaks during last year’s presidential campaign.

In what might have seemed a shocking omission, but par for the course considering the source, Hannity failed to mention the likely real reason for his grudging reversal—that his own cable network, the Fox News Channel, had officially retracted the bogus Seth Rich story earlier Tuesday.

A May 16 article posted on the Fox News website “was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting,” the conservative-leaning network declared in a statement. “Upon appropriate review, the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed.” Rich was found shot to death on a sidewalk near his Washington home on July 10, 2016, and his killing remains unsolved.

The original article that prompted Hannity’s irresponsible crusade had claimed that “sources in FBI” suggested they’d seen Rich’s computer containing evidence of him corresponding with WikiLeaks prior to his murder. However, it turns out, the FBI never had Rich’s computer.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/05/24/sean-hannitys-dishonest-seth-rich-conspiracy-walk-back