The Latest: Hannity backs off story about slain DNC staffer

NEW YORK (AP) - The Latest on Fox News and its story about a slain DNC employee (all times local):

10:45 p.m.

Fox's Sean Hannity says he will no longer talk about a speculative story about the 2016 murder of Democratic National Committee employee Seth Rich after talking to Rich's family.

On his show Tuesday, Hannity followed the lead of his network, which removed from its website a story about Rich because it hadn't met its standard of scrutiny.

The story was published a week earlier and quoted a private investigator suggesting Rich had some connection to leaks of DNC emails during the last campaign.

Rich's family has urged the media to stop spreading conspiracy theories about his death. Hannity says he will do so out of respect for the family's wishes.

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5:40 p.m.

Fox News says it has removed from its website a story about the 2016 murder of a Democratic National Committee employee because it didn't get the proper scrutiny.

The speculative report, published a week earlier, quotes a private investigator suggesting that Seth Rich had some connection to WikiLeaks and its leaks of DNC emails last year. His family denies that and no evidence has emerged to back up the claim, which has been the subject of conspiracy theories.

Fox said it will continue to investigate the case. It had nothing to say about Fox News Channel star Sean Hannity, who has said he doesn't believe Rich died in a robbery attempt, as police theorize, and that he wasn't going to stop asking questions about it.