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Anonymous ID: 1bbd06 Oct. 7, 2020, 4:31 p.m. No.10971519   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>1559 >>1562 >>1571 >>1580 >>1632 >>1726 >>1747 >>1787 >>1825

>>10971487

>https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1313982077491183617

https://www.npr.org/2020/10/07/921285470/judge-orders-twitter-to-unmask-fbi-impersonator-who-set-off-seth-rich-conspiracy

Judge Orders Twitter To Unmask FBI Impersonator Who Set Off Seth Rich Conspiracy

A federal judge in California has ordered that Twitter reveal the identity of an anonymous user who allegedly fabricated an FBI document to spread a conspiracy theory about the killing of Seth Rich, the Democratic National Committee staffer who died in 2016.

The ruling could lead to the identification of the person behind the Twitter name @whyspertech. Through that account, the user allegedly provided forged FBI materials to Fox News. The documents falsely linked Rich's killing to the Wikileaks hack of Democratic party emails in the lead up to the 2016 election.

While Twitter fought to keep the user's identity secret, U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu in Oakland ordered on Tuesday that the tech company must turn over the information to lawyers representing Rich's family in a defamation suit by Oct. 20.

It is the latest twist in a years-long saga over a conspiracy theory that rocked Washington, caused a grieving family a great deal of pain and set off multiple legal battles.

In a now-retracted story, Fox News falsely claimed that Seth Rich's computer was connected to the leak of Democratic Party emails provided to WikiLeaks, and that Rich's slaying was related to the purported leak. The theory was even debunked in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report.

Fox News in 2017 reported that Rich's brother, Aaron Rich, helped steal the emails in exchange for money from Wikileaks and that he knew his brother would be murdered and did nothing to stop it. None of those allegations are true.

But the Rich family insists that the baseless story is still causing real harm. Aaron Rich has filed a defamation lawsuit against Ed Butowsky, the reporter behind the discredited Fox News story; Matt Couch, a far-right activist, America First Media, Couch's media company; and The Washington Times, which also published the false story.

As the defamation case moves toward trial, one major question has been what unnamed "federal investigator" supposedly reviewed an "FBI forensic report" and shared information with Butowsky and others.

Lawyers for Aaron Rich say they believe it was the now-deactivated Twitter account @whyspertech, and the judge's ordering Twitter to provide information about that Twitter account could help them get closer to an answer.

"Learning the identity of @whysprtech is necessary in order to confirm that @whysprtech was not in fact a FBI 'insider' or otherwise someone who had access to non-public FBI material," Hur wrote in a filing.

Over the course of the gathering evidence for the defamation case, nobody has been willing to confirm the identity of @whysprtech, Hur noted.

Attorney Julie Schwartz, who is representing Twitter, did not return requests for comment. It is unclear if Twitter intends to appeal.

The subpoena does not seek private messages sent by the account, but merely "limited account registration information" and the user's IP address. If Twitter complies with the judge's order, the account information will be available to Rich's lawyers, though it could eventually become public in later court filings.

 

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7223134-ORDER-RICH.html