Prez, Fox News ‘colluded’ to target US intel
New York, Aug. 2: Fox News contrived with a Donald Trump supporter and the White House to fabricate “fake news” to advance the President’s agenda and try to bury speculation that his campaign colluded with Russia, a lawsuit is claiming.
The suit, filed at the US federal court house in Manhattan on Tuesday, is brought by Rod Wheeler, a Fox News contributor and retired police detective, against the television network, one of its journalists and another of its contributors. It alleges a May 16 article sought to promote a claim that a murdered Democratic National Committee staffer was the source of leaked DNC emails during last year’s election campaign, and not Russian hackers as the US intelligence community said.
“The motivation behind the article .... shift the blame from Russia and help put to bed speculation that Trump colluded with Russia in an attempt to influence the outcome of the presidential election,” the 33-page suit says.
It quoted one of the defendants — wealthy Trump supporter Ed Butowsky — as claiming that the US President reviewed the article “prior to its publication and sought to get the article published ‘immediately.’”
The article included “fabricated” quotes from Wheeler, the suit alleges. When Wheeler called to complain, he was told by Butowsky that the quotes were included “because that is the way the President wanted the article.”
A lawsuit has alleged that a May 16 article on Fox News said that murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich was behind leaked emails during the 2016 campaign, and not Russians as has been established by US intelligence