Seth Rich's Death

Overview

Seth Rich's Death refers to the fatal shooting of Democratic National Committee (DNC) staffer Seth Rich, who was murdered while walking home in Washington D.C. in July 2016. Due to the timing of his death, many conspiracy theories circulated online speculating that Rich had been killed for being the anonymous source behind the 2016 DNC Email Leak, though no evidence linking the shooting has surfaced.

Background

On July 10th, 2016, Rich was shot and killed while walking home at approximately 4:20 A.M. on a residential street in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington D.C. During a press conference the following day, Metropolitan Police Department Captain Anthony Haythe announced that police discovered Rich conscious and breathing at the scene after being shot several times, though he fatally succumbed to the wounds after being transported to a nearby hospital.

Developments

Initial Reactions

On July 11th, 2016, The Washington Post^[2] published a statement by then DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz:

"Our hearts are broken with the loss of one of our DNC family members over the weekend. Seth Rich was a dedicated, selfless public servant who worked tirelessly to protect the most sacred right we share as Americans -- the right to vote."

The same day, Seth Rich's father Joel was interviewed by the local news station KMTV,^[9] in during which he commented on the explanation that he son had been robbed:

"If it was a robbery-it failed because he still has his watch, he still has his money-he still has his credit cards, still had his phone so it was a wasted effort except we lost a life."

On July 12th, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton mentioned Rich's death when discussing the need for stricter gun control legislation during a speech in Portsmouth, New Hampshire:

"From Sandy Hook to Orlando to Dallas, and so many other places, these tragedies tear at our soul. And so do the incidents that don’t even dominate the headlines. Just this past Sunday, a young man, Seth Rich, who worked for the Democratic National Committee to expand voting rights, was shot and killed in his neighborhood in Washington. He was just 27 years old."

Conspiracy Theories

On July 11th, Twitter user @relombardo3^[4] tweeted an article about Rich's death with the description "1 week after DNC lawsuit, DNC staffer was shot down 4x in the back" (shown below).

On July 13th, the conspiracy theory site WhatDoesItMean^[7] reported that rumors were circulating in the Kremlin that Rich was executed by a "hit team" prior to his meeting with the FBI. The following day, Snopes^[6] published an article titled "Seth Rich Homicide," which listed the claim that Rich was murdered prior to a meeting with the FBI as "false." On July 28th, Redditor Doctor_Cornwalls submitted a post about Rich to the /r/The_Donald^[5] subreddit, where several commenters speculated that he was Wikileaks' source for the DNC email leak. Within two weeks, the post garnered upwards of 6,300 votes (86% upvoted) and 370 comments. On July 29th, the conservative news blog Heat Street^[8] published an article about the online conspiracy theories. On August 9th, Republican strategist Roger Stone tweeted an image macro listing Rich among three other individuals recently found dead (shown below).^[11] Within 48 hours, the tweet gained over 2,300 retweets and 1,800 likes.

Julian Assange's Statements

On August 9th, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was interviewed on the Dutch television program Nieuwsuur, where he mentioned Seth Rich's murder when discussing the "risks" his organization's informants endure to provide information. Following the appearance, many speculated that Assange was suggesting Seth Rich was the source of the leaked DNC emails.

"We are investigating what happened with Seth Rich. We think it is a concerning situation. There is not a conclusion yet; we are not willing to state a conclusion, but we are concerned about it. And more importantly, a variety of WikiLeaks sources are concerned when that kind of thing happens."

On August 9th, the @Wikileaks^[1] Twitter feed posted an announcement that the organization would issue $20,000 for "information leaking to conviction for the murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich" (shown below). Within 48 hours, the tweet gained over 10,300 likes and 9,800 retweets.

That day, Slate^[10] published an article titled "Wikileaks Is Fanning a Conspiracy Theory That Hillary Murdered a DNC Staffer." On August 10th, 2016, YouTuber Paul Joseph Watson published a video titled "Will Julian Assange be Assassinated?", in which Watson asked if the Wikileaks founder would be "the next victim of the Clinton bodycount" (shown below).

That same day, the Wikileaks Twitter^[3] feed posted a statement about Seth Rich's murder, claiming that the organization did not "imply that Seth Rich was a source to Wikileaks" ot "that his murder is connected to our publication" (shown below).

Rich Family's Response

On August 10th, Rich family spokesperson Brad Bauman delivered a statement to Business Insider^[13] commenting on the conspiracy theories about Seth Rich's death, lamenting that "some are attempting to politicize this horrible tragedy."

"The family welcomes any and all information that could lead to the identification of the individuals responsible, and certainly welcomes contributions that could lead to new avenues of investigation. That said, some are attempting to politicize this horrible tragedy, and in their attempts to do so, are actually causing more harm than good and impeding on the ability for law enforcement to properly do their job. For the sake of finding Seth's killer, and for the sake of giving the family the space they need at this terrible time, they are asking for the public to refrain from pushing unproven and harmful theories about Seth's murder."

Guccifer 2.0 Chat Log

On April 8th, model Robbin Young launched a webpage^[14] featuring screenshots purportedly taken of Twitter direct message conversations between Young and the hacker Guccifer 2.0 in late August 2016, in which the latter reveals his "whistleblower" for the DNC email leak was named "Seth" and that his murder was possibly a deliberate assassination (shown below)

That day, the @Wikileaks^[15] Twitter feed posted a link to the screenshots, which gathered upwards of 2,900 likes and retweets within 48 hours (shown below, left). Shortly after, Young thanked Wikileaks for the tweet and claimed that she was ignored by police and news media (shown below, right).^[16]

Meanwhile, posts about the news reached the front page of /r/The_Donald,^[17] /r/conspiracy^[18] and /r/OutOfTheLoop.^[19] In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the leaked screenshots, including The Gateway Pundit,^[20] HeatStreet^[21] and Daily Kos.^[22]

Rod Wheeler's Statements

On May 15th, 2017, the Washington, D.C. news station Fox 5 reported that former NYPD homicide detective Rod Wheeler, who had been hired as a private investigator, claimed that a laptop in police custody had evidence that Rich contacted Wikileaks. Additionally, Wheeler speculated that there may have been a cover up and that police had been told to "stand down" from the case.

Over the next 24 hours, several posts about Wheeler's claims reached the front page of the /r/The_Donald subreddit.[23^[24][25] On May 16th, Fox News broadcast a segment about report (shown below). Meanwhile, "#SethRich" became a trending hashtag on Twitter. While some found Wheeler's account to be evidence of a conspiracy, others criticized Wheeler for publicizing what appeared to be hearsay.

Also on May 16th, The Washington Post^[26] reported that the Rich's spokesman Brad Bauman said the family "do not believe their son gave any information to WikiLeaks." Additionally, Bauman claimed that Wheeler had not been hired by the Rich family but by a "third-party" with "a political agenda." Meanwhile, Fox News^[27] reported that an anonymous federal investigator confirmed he had "seen and read the emails between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks." However, Fox 5, the origin of the story, later reported that Rod Wheeler effectively etracted his statements, saying that there was no FBI source and that what he had said was a "miscommunication".^[28]

Kim Dotcom's Statement

On May 19th, 2017, Kim Dotcom tweeted that he would "give written testimony with evidence" that Rich was the source of the DNC email hacks (shown below, left).^[29] Within four days, the tweet received upwards of 16,000 likes and 12,500 retweets. Shortly after, Fox News television host Sean Hannity replied to Dotcom asking "you have that evidence?", to which he replied "I knew Seth Rich. I know he was the @Wikileaks source. I was involved" (shown below, right).^[30] Dotcom then tweeted he would be meeting with his legal team and would release a statement afterward.

On May 23rd, Dotcom released a statement on his official website,^[31] in which he claimed Rich contacted him under the pseudonym "Panda" back in 2014 to start a branch of the Internet Party in the United States. Dotcom also revealed he had spoken to his lawyers and that he wished to be given safe passage from New Zealand to the United States in order to meet with Special Counsel Muller regarding the matter.

Fox Retraction

Also on May 23rd, Fox News^[34] released a statement regarding their coverage of the Rich murder investigation, stating that the story "was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting" and that the article had since been removed after failing "to meet those standards."

Criticism of Sean Hannity

Meanwhile, CNN^[32] published an article by staff writer Oliver Darcy reporting on a letter written by Seth Rich's brother Aaron to Fox News host Sean Hannity, pleading with him to stop publicizing the conspiracy theory:

"Think about how you would feel losing a son or brother. And while dealing with this, you had baseless accusations of your lost family member being part of a vast conspiracy. As the family, we would hope to be the first people to learn about any such evidence and reasons for Seth's death. It is a travesty that you would prompt false conspiracy theories and other people's agendas rather than work with the family to learn the truth."

That evening, Hannity tweeted that the progressive media watchdog organization Media Matters was "trying to silence" him and telling his fans "I need your help!" (shown below).^[35] Within 24 hours, the tweet gained over 36,000 likes and 21,000 retweets.

Fox News Lawsuit

On August 1st, 2017, NPR^[36] reported on a lawsuit by Rod Wheeler toward Fox News, alleging that the Trump White House attempted to use the Rich case to deflect against the mounting Russiagate investigation. According to the court filing, Fox News created quotes and attributed them to Wheeler to bolster the story.

The lawsuit^[49] points to Ed Butowsky, a wealthy Dallas investor, Fox commentator and Trump supporter, who offered to pay Wheeler to investigate Rich's death. On April 20th, he and Wheeler met with then-press secretary Sean Spicer to discuss the investigation. In the lawsuit, voicemails and text messages from Butowsky were quoted in which he says Trump reviewed drafts of the Fox News story before they were made public. Over the coming weeks, the suit claims, Butowsky made several statements on how the Seth Rich story could help bury the Russia investigation.

On the first page of the lawsuit, a screenshot of a text message from Butowski (shown below) reads, "Not to add any more pressure but the president just read the article. He wants the article out immediately. It's now all up to you. But don't feel the pressure."

Speaking to NPR, Spicer said that he met with them as a favor to Butowsky, and Butowsky claims he was kidding about Trump's involvement.

Jay Wallace,^[37] Fox's President of News, released a statement (shown below). It read:

"The accusation that FoxNews.com published Malia Zimmerman’s story to help detract from coverage of the Russia collusion issue is completely erroneous. The retraction of this story is still being investigated internally and we have no evidence that Rod Wheeler was misquoted by Zimmerman. Additionally, FOX News vehemently denies the race discrimination claims in the lawsuit -- the dispute between Zimmerman and Rod Wheeler has nothing to do with race."

Shortly after the NPR published the report "Seth Rich" became a top trending item on Twitter. Additionally, Twitter^[38] published a Moments page archiving some of the reaction, mostly from journalists, to the story.

Virtually every major news network covered the lawsuit, including The Washington Post,^[39] CNN,^[40] The New York Times,^[41] ABC^[42] and more.

On Reddit, the story inspired no less than 10 stories on the popular Donald Trump-support subreddit /r/The_Donald. ^{[43][44][45][46]} However, on the /r/Politics^[47] subreddit, Redditor PuffPuff74 posted an article from The Daily Beast ("Trump Told Fox News to Publish Seth Rich Murder Hoax, Lawsuit Claims"^[48]), which received more than 17,000 points (87% upvoted) and 2,000 comments.

Corsi Emails

In an email to Roger Stone, a longtime friend of President Donald Trump, Jerome Corsi, a prominent Seth Rich conspiracy theorist, who had pushed the theory that Rich had stolen DNC emails and delivered them to WIkiLeaks on such outlets as InfoWars, admitted that hackers, not Rich, had been responsible for the heist.^[51]

According to court documents,^[52] in an August 2nd, 2016 email from Corsi to Stone, Corsi acknowledged that the hackers were after the emails, as well as his suggestion to push more conspiracy theories about then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. He wrote:

"Word is friend in embassy plans 2 more dumps. One shortly after I’m back. 2nd in Oct. Impact planned to be very damaging.… Time to let more than [the Clinton Campaign chairman] to be exposed as in bed w enemy if they are not ready to drop HRC [Hillary Rodham Clinton]. That appears to be the game hackers are now about. Would not hurt to start suggesting HRC old, memory bad, has stroke -- neither he nor she well. I expect that much of next dump focus, setting stage for Foundation debacle."

Jake Burkman's Shooting

On December 3rd, 2018, an Arlington Circuit Court judge sentenced Kevin Doherty, an ex-marine-turned-investigator, to nine years in prison for shooting his former boss Jack Burkman, a Seth Rich conspiracy theorist, in March 2018. Burkman originally hired Doherty to establish a psychological profile Rich in July 2017. However, after a falling out between the two over the project, Doherty concocted a revenge plot that unfolded over several months, promising Burkman documents that detailed FBI misconduct in exchange for $15,000. When Burkman went to retrieve the documents from the Key Bridge Marriott parking garage in Arlington, Virginia, where the information laid hidden underneath a traffic cone, as per their agreement, Doherty shot him.^[50]

The shooting left Burkman with a broken arm and two bullets "lodged in his buttocks."

Search Interest

External References