Sean Hannity Won’t Discuss Seth Rich Murder Conspiracy Theory For Now, But Says He’s ‘Closer’ To ‘Truth’

Fox News host Sean Hannity said Tuesday night he will not discuss the murder of Democratic National Committee (DNC) staffer Seth Rich — at least for now. Hannity is among several other conservative journalists who support the conspiracy theory that Rich leaked thousands of emails — including the ones involving former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton — to WikiLeaks last July and got killed in return.

Earlier in the evening, Hannity tweeted that he has “huge announcement” to make on his show about Rich, his “future at Fox", among others. The cryptic tweet made people believe the announcement could be related to his exit from Fox News. Earlier in the day, Rich had retracted a story which claimed the late 27-year-old DNC staffer was in touch with WikiLeaks prior to his death.

Read: Seth Rich Was A 'Hero' Who Leaked DNC Emails To WikiLeaks, Kim Dotcom Claims

However, Hannity’s announcement had got nothing to do with his job at the news network.

"I totally and completely understand how upset and how hard this is on this family, especially over the recent coverage of Seth's death. I've been communicating with them. I got a very heartfelt note. I also sent them a heartfelt note back," Hannity said on his show late Tuesday.

"Out of respect for the family's wishes, for now, I am not discussing this matter at this time. Let me explain this. There are so many issues here, not the least of which is the Democratic push of their Russian narrative, collusion, Trump, Trump-Russia narrative. The destroy-Trump media and Democrats, they have been pushing that tinfoil hat conspiracy with zero evidence," Hannity added.

Following the announcement, Hannity tweeted saying he is “closer” to the truth “than ever” and he was “working harder.” He did not directly address whether his tweet was related to Rich’s death. Police reports said Rich may have been was shot to death during an attempted robbery.

Grieving Rich's death, his family issued a statement after Hannity’s announcement. “The Rich family thanks Sean Hannity for respecting their wished by not giving a venue to conspiracy theorists which would prolong the pain and anguish they have felt over the past week, and many months since Seth’s murder. We hope that Mr. Hannity will … allow law enforcement to investigate this tragedy,” the statement read.

Rich’s parents, Mary and Joel, criticized the conspiracy theory surrounding their son’s death. In an op-ed published in the Washington Post, the couple urged media personalities, who promoted the conspiracy theory, to stop causing them "unbearable" pain by endorsing such "baseless" theories.

“The circumstances of what happened next are still unclear. … Law-enforcement officials told us that Seth’s murder looked like a botched robbery attempt in which the assailants — after shooting our son — panicked, immediately ran and abandoned Seth’s personal belongings,” Rich’s parents wrote. “We have seen no evidence, by any person at any time, that Seth’s murder had any connection to his job at the Democratic National Committee or his life in politics. Anyone who claims to have such evidence is either concealing it from us or lying.”

“Still, conservative news outlets and commentators continue, day after painful day, to peddle discredited conspiracy theories that Seth was killed after having provided WikiLeaks with emails from the DNC. Those theories, which some reporters have since retracted, are baseless, and they are unspeakably cruel,” they added.

Hannity shared the op-ed on his Twitter account saying that “as a father, this really tears at my heart.”