For anyone who’s been following Rod Wheeler, his filing of a lawsuit last Tuesday against FoxNews and Fox contributors Ed Butowsky and Malia Zimmerman might come as a surprise. Until very recently, Wheeler was a regular contributor on Fox. Ed Butowsky, a fellow Fox contributor had hired Wheeler to investigate the Seth Rich murder.
Wheeler became an overnight hero in the alternative media as the embattled investigator of a case in which emergency responders, DC Metro police and the two local hospitals refused to say where Rich was treated and DC’s Chief Medical Examiner refused to release Rich’s autopsy report.
Wheeler had expressed additional frustration over being denied access to Seth’s emails by the Rich family, which led him to voice suspicion that these might contain evidence of his contacts with WikiLeaks.
Now, however, Wheeler’s suit claims that “Zimmerman, Butowsky and Fox had created fake news to advance President Trump’s agenda.” He is additionally claiming racial discrimination. His lawyer, Douglas Wigdor stated that his client was “used as a pawn” to “try and steer away the attention that was being given about the Russian hacking of the DNC emails.”
The DNC is loving it. Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa said, “If these allegations are true, it is beyond vile that the White House – and possibly even Trump himself – would use the murder of a young man to distract the public’s attention from their chaotic administration and Trump’s ties to Russia. The Rich family has begged those responsible for these conspiracies to stop. And yet, Trump’s allies have ignored their pain and their pleas, degrading the office of the president by spreading repulsive lies.”
In late June, when Wheeler initially suggested that he might sue, Butowsky tweeted, “Fox News story was pulled b/c Rod Wheeler said [he] didn’t say a quote … How much did DNC pay him?”
