The Washington Times Issues Retraction, Apology to Seth Rich's Brother

The Washington Times has reached a settlement with the brother of former Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich over an editorial that implied a conspiracy behind his murder. 

Rich was shot and killed in July of 2016 by an unknown perpetrator. His murder sparked multiple conspiracy theories, including one that alleged Rich had leaked DNC emails to WikiLeaks, and that this may have been the reason for his death.

The Times claimed in an article published after Rich’s death that it was "well known in intelligence circles that Seth Rich and his brother, Aaron Rich, downloaded the DNC emails and was paid by WikiLeaks for that information."

This article has since been retracted as part of the agreement the newspaper reached with Rich’s brother, Aaron.

"The column included statements about Aaron Rich, the brother of former Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, that we now believe to be false," the Times staff wrote in their retraction.

"The Washington Times apologizes to Mr. Rich and his family. All online copies of the Column have been deleted and all online content referencing the Column has been deleted to the extent within The Washington Times' control."

Rich’s attorney, Michael Gottlieb, told CNN that "the apology and retraction are robust -- unusually robust, and Mr. Rich is very pleased with The Washington Times taking responsibility for its publication and he's accepted their apology."

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