Conservative site RedState takes down op-ed promoting Seth Rich conspiracy theory

Conservative website RedState took down an op-ed on Monday that promoted the conspiracy theory that Democratic National Committee (DNC) staffer Seth Rich was killed in 2016 because he was the source of stolen DNC emails published by WikiLeaks.

“Each of our contributors has the right to express their opinion, but in the case of Seth Rich we believe the opinion written is in error and encourages conspiratorial speculation without basis in fact,” the website tweeted.

Each of our contributors has the right to express their opinion, but in the case of Seth Rich we believe the opinion written is in error and encourages conspiratorial speculation without basis in fact. The story has been removed from the site. – Editors

— RedState (@RedState) June 17, 2019 

{mosads}In the story, staff author Elizabeth Vaughn discussed the conspiracy theory that Rich was behind the DNC hacks and WikiLeaks dump, and that special counsel Mueller obfuscated that fact in his final report to ensure that Russia remained the antagonist of the story, according to Talking Points Memo.

There is no evidence to support this theory.

Mueller’s report said WikiLeaks itself promoted the conspiracy, while Russia’s intelligence directorate, the GRU, actually obtained the trove of DNC files and provided them to WikiLeaks.

Rich was killed in Washington, D.C., in 2016 in what authorities described as a robbery gone wrong. Unfounded conspiracy theories connected his death with the stolen emails.