The president of a philanthropic network founded by liberal megadonor George Soros asked Fox News on Thursday to ban a guest who spread a conspiracy theory about the billionaire.

Patrick Gaspard, president of the Open Society Foundations, published a letter addressed to the chief executive officer of Fox News Media objecting to comments made the previous evening on one of its networks by former federal prosecutor Joe diGenova.

Appearing on “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on the Fox Business Network, Mr. diGenova alleged that Mr. Soros “controls a very large part of the career foreign service of the United States State Department” and “controls the activities of FBI agents overseas who work for NGOs.”“

“This is beyond rhetorical ugliness, beyond fiction, beyond ludicrous,” Mr. Gaspard wrote in a letter to Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott. “It’s patently untrue; it is not even possible. This is McCarthyite.

“I request an on-air retraction, and request that you bar Mr. diGenova as a guest on your network,” Mr. Gaspard added. “I believe you owe an apology to the State Department and FBI as well.”

Fox News did not immediately return a message requesting comment.

Mr. diGenova, 74, served as a federal prosecutor from 1983 through 1988 for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

A frequent commentator on conservative programs, Mr. diGenova’s previous remarks have been quoted by President Trump on Twitter at least six times in the past 18 months.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.