Fox News host Sean Hannity and Fox Business host Lou Dobbs are expected to be deposed in late October over Fox’s reporting about the murder of Democratic National Committee (DNC) staffer Seth Rich, the Daily Beast reported Monday.
Hannity, Dobbs and other Fox staffers will reportedly be deposed as part of an emotional distress lawsuit that Rich’s parents, Joel and Mary Rich, filed against Fox, Fox News reporter Malia Zimmerman and former Fox News guest Ed Butowsky. The deposition schedule was revealed in a Thursday court filing made by the Rich family, according to the Daily Beast.
Hannity’s deposition in the case is scheduled for Oct. 30, and Dobb’s is scheduled for Oct. 7, according to the Daily Beast.
Seth Rich was killed in 2016 in what Washington, D.C., police called a botched robbery. His parents contend in the lawsuit that Fox News promoted dangerous conspiracy theories that implied that Rich gave internal DNC emails to WikiLeaks during that year’s presidential race.
Fox News retracted a story about Seth Rich’s killing after an outcry over sharing conspiracy theories about the murder, connecting it to then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Hannity, however, later said he personally “retracted nothing.”
The conspiracy theory has been debunked repeatedly by both former special counsel Robert Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee, which found that Russian hackers were behind the theft of emails and publication by WikiLeaks, the Daily Beast noted.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham slammed the media for an “aggressive lack of curiosity” about Rich’s murder after Zimmerman’s story was published, but Fox has fought the Rich family’s efforts to depose Ingraham, the Daily Beast reported, citing the filing by Rich’s parents.
“Fox’s counsel said yesterday that they would refuse to allow one of those employees (Laura Ingraham) to be deposed,” the document reads, according to the Daily Beast.
Fox News declined to comment when contacted by The Hill, citing the pending litigation.