Fox News hyped a letter from a group with birther ties to renew conspiracy theories about the terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, last September.

On April 8, a group of Special Operations veterans released a letter calling for an investigation on the Benghazi attack and posed various questions stemming from long-debunked conspiracy theories, many of which have been pushed by Fox News figures. That same day, several Fox News programs including Fox & Friends, America's Newsroom, Happening Now, and America Live devoted entire segments to the letter. From Happening Now:

The group that penned the letter, Special Operations Speaks, was founded by Larry Bailey, a former Navy SEAL who has admitted to being a birther and has touted the conspiracy theory that President Obama's real father was actually the late communist writer Frank Marshall Davis:

“In his books, Obama said his mentor was a fellow named Frank Marshall Davis. Frank Marshall Davis was a member of Communist Party USA, he wrote for the communist party's Hawaii newsletter, he was a close friend of Obama's mother, and there's a strong case that Frank Marshall Davis rather than Barack Obama, Sr. was Barack Obama, Jr.'s father and that Barack Obama, Sr. was just an administrative father of convenience,” Bailey said.

Bailey has also referred to the president as “one of the most unlikeable and unprepared politicians we've ever had,” and in a fundraising email for Special Operations Speaks announced, “We are in a war with Barack Obama ... We absolutely MUST remove that anti-American machine from power.”

In reporting on the letter, none of the Fox News programs made any mention of Bailey's birther background or his admitted personal dislike of the president.