Cops, FBI, and Seth Rich’s Family Agree That Fox’s WikiLeaks Story Is Bogus - ROUND 3
On Monday evening, Washington’s Fox 5 reported that Rod Wheeler, an investigator hired by Seth Rich’s family, said that there is evidence that the DNC staffer was working with WikiLeaks before he was murdered last July.
Here are some of the stranger aspects about the story:
The family rejects the report. Through their spokesperson, they said: “As we’ve seen through the past year of unsubstantiated claims, we see no facts, we have seen no evidence, we have been approached with no emails and only learned about this when contacted by the press.”
The police say it’s bogus: “The assertions put forward by Mr. Wheeler are unfounded,” DC’s police department says in a statement. “The Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) Homicide Branch is actively investigating Mr. Rich’s murder and we continue to work with the family to bring closure to this case as we do with all homicide investigations.”
The family says they didn’t hire Wheeler. Fox 5 reported that Wheeler was hired by the Rich family. In their statement, the Rich family said Wheeler had been hired through a third party. Jack Burkman, a Republican lobbyist who has worked with the Rich family and is offering a $105,000 reward for information leading to the killer, told Washingtonian he is not the third party who hired Wheeler.
They also say Wheeler was not supposed to speak with the press. “The services of the private investigator who spoke to press was offered to the Rich family and paid for by a third party, and contractually was barred from speaking to press or anyone outside of law enforcement or the family unless explicitly authorized by the family,” they said in their statement.
Ed Butowsky, a Dallas-based financial adviser who has written for Breitbart, urged the family to hire a private investigator. NBC News reported that Butowsky, who also contributes to Fox News, offered to cover the costs as well. Regarding Wheeler, Butowsky told NBC News: “I didn’t pay anybody. I didn’t hire anybody.” Butowsky declined to tell NBC News whether he has had any contact with the Rich family.
The report said there’s no evidence Seth’s murder was a botched robbery. At the time, however, there had been a series of armed robberies in the area and the wristband on Seth’s watch was damaged–suggesting that there had been an altercation. Aaron also told Washingtonian earlier this year that there was bruising on Seth’s hand and legs to support the police’s theory that the murder was a botched robbery. “I think they pretty quickly ruled out any association to his work,” he said.
Fox News also reported that the FBI had conducted a forensic report of Rich’s computer shortly after his death. A bureau spokesperson tells Washingtonian it is referring all inquiries on Rich to the DC Police because it is not the FBI’s case. According to NBC News, a former law enforcement with first-hand knowledge of the case says: “[Rich’s laptop] never contained any e-mails related to WikiLeaks, and the FBI never had it.” A current FBI official also told NBC News that the MPD never handed over Rich’s laptop to the FBI.
washingtonian.com
archive.fo
