The conservative blog “RedState” is hosting a post published Sunday peddling the conspiracy theory that special counsel Robert Mueller tweaked his report to cover up the fact that it was murdered DNC employee Seth Rich, and not the Russians, who was involved in the DNC email hack and subsequent WikiLeaks dump.
The post is so out there as to prompt an editor’s note at the top: “I don’t do this as a rule but in this case I want to emphasize that from the perspective of the leadership team at RedState, Seth Rich’s death is settled and it is not a mystery,” it reads. “Each contributor at RedState has the right to express their own opinions. This is one of those cases where we think the opinion is in error.”
The post is written by Elizabeth Vaughn, who RedState identifies as an “author” for its front page and a former financial consultant at Merrill Lynch.
Though some on the right have long plumbed Rich’s unsolved slaying for conspiracy, the Mueller report — despite the fact that it addressed head on that Rich was not the source of the leaks — has fanned the flames.
“Given the number of omissions and inaccuracies in the Mueller Report we’ve discovered in the last couple of weeks alone, it’s easy to believe Mueller would have manipulated information to debunk the theory that someone other than the Russians may have been responsible for stealing the DNC emails and leaking them to Wikileaks,” Vaughn writes in the post.
“In conclusion, the police have not solved the murder, at least they have not offered any information about it publicly,” she writes. “Calling this a Russian hack rather than an inside job fits their narrative. This is not over.”
This line has been echoed by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Fox News’ Sean Hannity. Rich’s family has brought multiple lawsuits against various people, including a dismissed one against Fox News, for spreading conspiracy theories about the killing. Police have not reached any conclusions about Rich’s sudden murder, but speculate that it may have been a robbery gone awry.
Erick Erickson, former CEO of the site, disavowed the post in a tweet.
I banned birthers from @RedState. It is sad to see @townhallcom letting Seth Rich conspiracy theorists on the site not just as commenters, but actual site contributors. https://t.co/GJw7WzSOBX
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) June 17, 2019
