White House says Trump had 'no knowledge' of false story about Seth Rich that fanned conspiracy theories about his death

pulse

August 1, 2017 9:54 PM

Sanders denied that Trump knew about a since-retracted Fox News story floating conspiracy theories about a slain DNC staffer.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday denied that President Donald Trump knew about a retracted Fox News story that floated conspiracy theories about a slain Democratic National Committee staffer.

Former Fox News contributor Rod Wheeler has sued the network over the story, alleging that it, along with a well-connected Trump-backer, knowingly pushed a thinly-sourced conspiracy theory about Rich's death to deflect from growing concerns about Trump's potential ties to Russia. The lawsuit also alleged that the Trump supporter — Edward Butowsky — and Wheeler met with former White House press secretary Sean Spicer about the story. Wheeler also alleged that Butowsky told him that Trump had read a draft of it, which Butowsky has claimed was just a joke.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Sanders said that Trump "had no knowledge of the story," and claimed that "it is completely untrue that he or the White House had an involvement in the story," though Spicer himself admitted he met with Butowsky and Wheeler.

New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush pressed Sanders, asking whether she was disturbed that Spicer met with people who were attempting to knowingly push a thin story.

"Does it disturb you that there's an allegation out there in a lawsuit and Sean Spicer admitted meeting these two individuals, that this was discussed in your White House?" Thrush said.

"He met with members of the media?" Sanders said. "I don't find that to be a strange thing."

Thrush noted that Spicer "met with a member of the media that were pushing a story that was later retracted because it was false."

"He met with that reporter, and he met with a campaign donor," Thrush said. "Does it disturb you, does it say anything about this White House that you'd entertain that story?"

Sanders responded that it doesn't bother her "that the press secretary would take a meeting with a somebody involved in the media about a story."

Wheeler, a former Metropolitan Police Department officer, was a key figure in a series ofdebunkedstories claiming that Rich had been in contact with Wikileaks before his death. Fox News, whichreportedthe story online and on television, retracted it in June.

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