New from Michael Isikoff: The Seth Rich conspiracy theory (Fox News) planted by Russian Intelligence

[Mrs. Overall]

https://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-the-true-origins-of-the-seth-rich-conspiracy-a-yahoo-news-investigation-100000831.html?soc_src=hl-viewer&soc_trk=tw

WASHINGTON — In the summer of 2016, Russian intelligence agents secretly planted a fake report claiming that Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was gunned down by a squad of assassins working for Hillary Clinton, giving rise to a notorious conspiracy theory that captivated conservative activists and was later promoted from inside President Trump’s White House, a Yahoo News investigation has found.

Russia’s foreign intelligence service, known as the SVR, first circulated a phony “bulletin” — disguised to read as a real intelligence report —about the alleged murder of the former DNC staffer on July 13, 2016, according to the U.S. federal prosecutor who was in charge of the Rich case. That was just three days after Rich, 27, was killed in what police believed was a botched robbery while walking home to his group house in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington, D.C., about 30 blocks north of the Capitol.

The purported details in the SVR account seemed improbable on their face: that Rich, a data director in the DNC’s voter protection division, was on his way to alert the FBI to corrupt dealings by Clinton when he was slain in the early hours of a Sunday morning by the former secretary of state’s hit squad.

Yet in a graphic example of how fake news infects the internet, those precise details popped up the same day on an obscure website, whatdoesitmean.com, that is a frequent vehicle for Russian propaganda. The website’s article, which attributed its claims to “Russian intelligence,” was the first known instance of Rich’s murder being publicly linked to a political conspiracy.

[fleur-de-lisa]

1. It's interesting how often Fox News headlines and Russian propaganda efforts align.

It's almost like a coordinated effort. But that couldn't be.

[hlthe2b]

2. The Rich family deserve more than a pound of flesh from Fox, Hannity and all that RW filth.

but most of all they deserve to be allowed to find peace with their son's horrific death. It feels as though his perpetrator is unlikely to be caught but I'd gladly see the RW propagators bankrupted to fund an "honesty in media" project in Seth's name.

[Turbineguy]

3. I can see how wing-nuts would believe that fable.

Left wing death squads.

[Yavin4]

4. True. If we really had left wing death squads...

there are a mother lode of better targets.

[FakeNoose]

5. Is anyone surprise by this? I doubt it

Once again here's proof that Faux News is completely irresponsible in the way they handle news, or fake news as the case may be. They should lose their broadcasting license.

[ScratchCat]

6. Well

Its time for a lawsuit and discovery. Dollars to donuts it would be found that Hannity and Co were well aware of the source of the story.

[spanone]

7. Hannity Russian asset

[Dennis Donovan]

8. Kick

Yet in a graphic example of how fake news infects the internet, those precise details popped up the same day on an obscure website, whatdoesitmean.com, that is a frequent vehicle for Russian propaganda. The website’s article, which attributed its claims to “Russian intelligence,” was the first known instance of Rich’s murder being publicly linked to a political conspiracy.

So, has Faux News registered as a foreign agency yet???