White House denies Fox-Trump connection on Rich story

The White House denied that Fox News gave President Trump prior review of a story that raised conspiracy theories about the death of a Democratic National Committee staffer. “The president had no knowledge of the story and its completely untrue that he or the White House [had] involvement in the story,” said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “Beyond that, this is ongoing litigation and I’d refer you to the actual parties involved, which are not the White House.”

Sanders also downplayed the revelation that outgoing White House press secretary Sean Spicer met with a Fox News contributor and a GOP donor on the story at the White House ahead of its publication. She framed that meeting as part of the press secretary's official duties in meeting with reporters on potential stories. “It doesn’t bother me that the press secretary would take a meeting with someone involved in the media about a story,” she said. “You guys come to us with stories all day. I’ve taken meetings with the majority of people in this room. I don’t always know the nature of the story of which you are coming to talk to me about, but it’s my job to talk to you.”