Report: NPR Sued For $57M Over Seth Rich Coverage

A Dallas investor accused of helping to advance conspiracy theories about the death of former Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich is asking for $57 million in damages in a defamation lawsuit against NPR and one of its reporters.

According to Courthouse News, Ed Butowksy, a frequent Fox News guest who hired a private investigator to look into the murder of Seth Rich, filed a complaint Thursday in Sherman, Texas, federal court against National Public Radio reporter David Folkenflik for publishing allegedly defamatory statements about him.

Rod Wheeler, a private investigator and former homicide detective who was also a Fox News contributor, was quoted in a now-retracted Fox News story alleging that Rich’s death was somehow connected to the leak of DNC emails to WikiLeaks.

David Folkenflik

Police in Washington, D.C., where Rich was shot to death in July 2016, have maintained that the murder was a robbery gone wrong.

Wheeler accused Fox News of making up his quotes, in collusion with President Donald Trump, in an attempt to deflect attention from news about the Russia probe. Wheeler sued the network – and Butowsky – in August 2017.

Butowsky takes issue with several of Folkenflik’s NPR stories that discuss his involvement in the Fox News story, including one headlined “The Man Behind the Scenes in Fox News’ Discredited Seth Rich Story.”

This report quotes Wheeler’s lawsuit, which claimed that Butowsky used the investigator “as a pawn” and worked behind the scenes to help Fox News put the Rich story together.

Butowsky now claims that Folkenflik pushed a “false narrative” that Fox’s story was “baseless.” The suit also alleges the NPR reporter conspired with Wheeler’s attorney David Wigdor in an effort to extort money from Fox.

Butowsky claims Folkenflik failed to verify the information in Wheeler’s lawsuit before publishing his story about it.

Folkenflik defended his work in a statement given to Courthouse News on Friday.

“I’m proud of the journalism that we do at NPR and of my coverage, generally, and on this story,” Folkenflik said. “I stand by my reporting.”

An NPR spokesperson said the network supports Folkenflik.