The brother of Seth Rich, the former DNC staffer who was murdered in 2016, is suing the Washington Times, Texas businessman Ed Butowsky, and internet activist Matt Couch — along with Couch's media company — for promoting conspiracy theories surrounding Rich's death, reports CNN. Aaron Rich is seeking damages for reputational harm and emotional distress after false reports claimed that his background as a defense contractor allowed him to help his brother obtain and transfer leaked DNC emails to WikiLeaks.

The backdrop: The filing comes on the heels of a separate lawsuit brought by Rich's parents against Fox News for claims of emotional distress surrounding a retracted 2017 story that exploited their son's murder "through lies, misrepresentations, and half-truths" with similar baseless claims that Rich's murder was connected to the DNC leak.