Dallas-based investor Ed Butowsky is suing NPR and reporter David Folkenflik for $57 million in damages after Folkenflik reported that a federal lawsuit stated that Butowsky had worked with the White House to influence a retracted Fox News report that enflamed conspiracy theories about murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich.

Fox News published and then retracted story in May 2017 which hinted that Rich sent internal DNC emails to Wikileaks, stating that the report didn’t meet their editorial standards. D.C. police believe Rich’s 2016 death was a robbery gone wrong.

Butowsky, who has been a guest on Fox News, filed the lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The lawsuit said Butowsky has suffered loss of business and mental and physical suffering because of the alleged defamation.

Isabel Lara, NPR senior director of media relations, said Folkenflik and the network stand behind the reporting.

"Millions of Americans trust NPR to provide accurate information about the world and their communities every day; we take this responsibility very seriously," she said.

Butowsky’s lawsuit maintains that NPR published information that Folkenflik knew to be false, including that Butowsky and Fox “worked in concert under the watchful eye of the White House to concoct a story” and that Fox’s story was “deceptive.”

The suit centers on a series of stories Folkenflik published in August and September 2017, including a story titled, "The Man Behind The Scenes In Fox News' Discredited Seth Rich story."

"I’m proud of the journalism that we do at NPR and of my coverage, generally, and on this story,” Folkenflik said in a statement.

Butowsky paid private investigator Rod Wheeler to investigate the murder with the permission of Rich’s parents. He met frequently with Wheeler and Fox News reporter Malia Zimmerman including in one meeting with then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer, Folkenflik reported.

After the story’s publication, Wheeler said the quotes attributed to him in the Fox News story were fabricated.

Folkenflik reported that in a taped conversation between Zimmerman, Wheeler and Butowsky, Zimmerman “appears to acknowledge” that Wheeler never said quotes attributed to him. Folkenflik reported that Butowsky then told Wheeler “one day you’re going to win an award for having said those things you didn’t say.” Butowsky disputed having said that.

Butowsky’s lawsuit says that Folkenflik knew that Wheeler had been accurately quoted by Fox, as Zimmerman had shared a draft of her story with Wheeler and Wheeler had approved the quotations. NPR said that Folkenflik had not seen any evidence that Wheeler had approved the quotes.

Butowsky said in an interview that he had never met or communicated with Trump and although he was described as a Trump supporter in media reports, he is neither pro- nor anti-Trump.

The lawsuit accuses Folkenflik of conspiring with New York lawyer Doug Wigdor, who was Wheeler's attorney. Butowsky said that Wigdor has been pushing a narrative that he was working with Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to use the Rich story to distract from the ongoing Russia investigations. Wigdor did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Steven Biss, Butowsky's lawyer, said his client wants to clear his name and re-establish his reputation. He said that Butowsky was an "innocent bystander" who was not working with Trump.

"You can't conspire or collude with somebody if you've never met somebody or talked to them," he said.

Butowsky said Zimmerman’s retracted story should be reinstated.

“I do not believe there is anything in Malia’s article that is not accurate,” he said.

This isn't the first lawsuit stemming from Fox's retracted story and the reaction. Wheeler sued Fox News, accusing the network of conspiring with President Donald Trump. Wheeler's lawsuit included a screenshot of a text he said was from Butowsky, which stated Trump had read the article and wanted it out immediately.

Butowsky said in an interview that the text message was a joke as Wheeler was interested in working at the White House.

Rich's parents also sued the network over the story and mentioned Butowsky in their complaint. Rich's brother, Aaron, sued Butowsky, The Washington Times and America First Media for defamation in claiming he helped his brother steal data from the DNC.