Seth Rich’s conspiracy theorists recant, apologize for false claims as they settle lawsuit

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“I take full responsibility for my comments and apologize for any pain I have caused,” businessman Ed Butowsky said in a statement retracting his previous comments. “I sincerely hope that the Rich family will be able to find out who murdered their son and bring this tragic chapter in their lives to an end.

“Today we retract and disavow our statements and apologize to Mr. Rich and his family,” said fringe internet activist Matt Couch in a separate video posted online. “I take full responsibility for my actions … and I want to apologize to Mr. Rich and his family.”

The retractions came in connection with a settlement reached by Aaron Rich, brother of Seth Rich, with Butowsky and Couch following a lawsuit he brought against them in March 2018. The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed. The Washington Times, a conservative media outlet that was also sued, also retracted its claims and settled with Aaron Rich in October 2018.

In a statement, Aaron Rich said he was “satisfied” that the two men “took responsibility for the statements they made.”

“In the more than four years that we have lost Seth, the charges against our family have only prolonged our grief without bringing us any closer to the search for Seth’s murderer,” added Aaron Rich. “While we will never be at peace until we get justice for Seth’s murder, I hope these events can encourage others to pause and think about the impact of accusing strangers.” wrongdoing. in peace and in complete privacy. “

Fox News settles lawsuit with Seth Rich's family
In November last year, Fox News settled a separate lawsuit with the parents of Seth Rich, who sued the network for developing what the lawsuit called a “fictional” story about their son’s death that caused them “Mental anguish and emotional distress, emotional pain and suffering and all other physical and mental injuries.

Seth Rich was fatally shot in Washington, DC, in July 2016. Police said evidence indicated he was the victim of a botched robbery, but following his death, far-right activists and media organizations have suggested something much more sinister.

Without real evidence, these far-right activists peddled a conspiracy theory that Seth Rich leaked a mine of DNC emails to Wikileaks and was killed in retaliation for the alleged leak. The theory suited some on the right, as they disputed the claims of Russia’s hacking of the DNC, which President Donald Trump had disputed.

But the 2019 report by former special adviser Robert Mueller, who investigated the interference of Russia’s role in the 2016 election, discredited the entire conspiracy theory. This report noted that WikiLeaks was communicating with Russian military intelligence officers about the documents stolen from the DNC before and after Rich’s death.

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