UPDATE: Seth Rich’s family has released a statement to Heat Street, asking those with information in Rich’s death to please come forward – but to refrain from participating in speculation of a conspiracy.
“The entire Rich family is so heartened by the outpouring of support and love that they have felt over the past few weeks as they continue to come to terms with this terrible tragedy. The family is in constant contact with authorities and thank them for their extremely thorough investigation. The family believes this matter is being handled professionally and with the seriousness that it requires.
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 that 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.”
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Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday fanned the flames of the conspiracy theories surrounding murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich when he suggested that Rich may have been a confidential source.
Rich, 27, was shot and killed in July in Washington DC in what appeared at first glance to be a botched robbery. There have been no arrests in his murder, and conspiracy theories have since run wild — with online commenters suggesting (with little basis for substantiation) that Rich was an FBI informant who had damaging information about the DNC and the Clintons.
Assange jumped into the speculative frenzy on Tuesday during an interview with the Dutch program Nieuwsuur:
ASSANGE: “Whistleblowers go to significant efforts to get us material and often very significant risks. There’s a 27 year old who works for the DNC who was shot in the back, murdered, just a few weeks ago for unknown reasons, as he was walking down the street in Washington.
INTERVIEWER: That was just a robbery I believe wasn’t it?
ASSANGE: No. There’s no finding.
INTERVIEWER: What are you suggesting?
ASSANGE: I’m suggesting that our sources take risks. And they become concerned to see things occurring like that.
INTERVIEWER: And was he one of your sources then?
ASSANGE: We don’t comment on who our sources are
INTERVIEWER: But why make the suggestion about a young guy being shot in the streets of Washington?
ASSANGE: Because we have to understand how high the stakes are in the United States and that our sources face serious risks. That’s why they come to us so we can protect their anonymity.
INTERVIEWER: But it’s quite something to suggest a murder. That’s basically what you’re doing.
ASSANGE: Well others have suggested that. We are investigating to understand what happened in that situation with Seth Rich. I think it is a concerning situation. There is not a conclusion yet. We wouldn’t be willing to state a conclusion but we are concerned about it. More importantly, a variety of Wikileaks sources are concerned when that kind of thing happens.
By suggesting that Rich was his confidential source, Assange was deflecting American accusations that Russian hackers were behind Wikileaks’ embarrassing dump of DNC e-mails.
In a further indication of its interest (or perhaps embrace) of the Rich investigation, Wikileaks also announced on Tuesday a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Rich’s killer. This would be in addition to the $25,000 reward already offered by Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department.
Although there’s no proof to support the theory, some Reddit users have claimed that Rich, who worked at the Democratic National Committee as a data analyst at the time of his death, had somehow gained access to the DNC’s email servers. They believe he was responsible for leaking around 30,000 of those DNC emails to Wikileaks, at the behest of a powerful Bernie Sanders donor.
They also believe Rich was tied to the Clintons through a series of alleged “side jobs,” and that Rich had been on his way to an interview with the FBI when he was murdered. There is no record of any investigation, however, that involves both Rich and the Clintons.
Intelligence sources, however, claim the DNC leak came from Russian hackers who gained remote access to DNC servers. Wikileaks denies any connection with Russian hacking operations.
Assange and Wikileaks are doing nothing to calm Internet conspiracy theorists. The Internet will, no doubt, respond by redoubling their investigative efforts.