FBI: Murdered DNC staffer 'DID have links to Wikileaks'

Politics

Murdered DNC staffer 'DID have links to Wikileaks': Investigation claims Seth Rich was in contact with website and says police looking into his death have been told to 'stand down'

Seth Rich was gunned down in Washington DC as he walked home from a bar
DC police claimed the DNC data analyst, 27, was killed in a 'botched robbery'
An investigator hired by the Rich family claims his death is being covered up
Rod Wheeler claims to have evidence Mr Rich was in contact with Wikileaks
He also believes the authorities have been ordered to drop the investigation

By Jay Akbar For Mailonline and Louise Boyle For Dailymail.com

DNC staffer Seth Rich did have contact with Wikileaks before he was gunned down in Washington DC last year, a new investigation has claimed.

Mr Rich, 27, was shot dead in the city's affluent Bloomingdale neighborhood in the early hours of July 10 while on the phone to his girlfriend after a night out in what police claim was a 'botched robbery'.

His father has insisted his son was not behind the mammoth leak of tens of thousands of DNC emails prior to the 2016 presidential election, including messages from seven key staffers, which led to the resignation of chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

The emails were released by Wikileaks over several months before Hillary Clinton lost the election.

And Rod Wheeler, a private investigator hired by the Rich family, claims there is evidence on Rich's laptop which suggests he was communicating with Julian Assange's site.

Mr Wheeler says either DC police or the FBI are holding the data analyst's laptop as part of a conspiracy to cover up his death.

DNC staffer Seth Rich, left, did have contact with Wikileaks before he was gunned down in Washington DC last year, a new investigation has claimed

Mr Rich, 27, was shot dead in DC in the early hours of July 10 in what police claimed was a botched robbery

Rod Wheeler, a private investigator hired by the Rich family, claims there is evidence on his laptop which suggests he was communicating with the Wikileaks website. Pictured: The site's founder, Julian Assange

'The police department nor the FBI have been forthcoming,' said Wheeler in a report to be aired on Fox News today.

He goes on: 'They haven't been cooperating at all. I believe that the answer to solving his death lies on that computer, which I believe is either at the police department or either at the FBI. I have been told both.'

Mr Wheeler claimed sources have given him 'confirmed' evidence that Mr Rich was in contact with Wikileaks while a DC police insider has told him they were 'told to stand down on this case'.

WikiLeaks published thousands of hacked DNC emails less than two weeks after Rich's death.

The website then offered $20,000 to help solve the case and WikiLeaks founder Assange insisted that Russia had nothing to do with the leak.

However the US intelligence community later concluded that Russian operatives were behind the hack and had further meddled in the US elections.

Mr Rich was gunned down after a night of heavy drinking at Lou's City Bar.

Mr Wheeler says either DC police or the FBI are holding the data analyst's laptop as part of a conspiracy to cover up his death. Pictured: Rich, left, at a sports even

Mr Wheeler claimed sources have given him 'confirmed' evidence that Mr Rich was in contact with Wikileaks while a DC police insider has told him they were 'told to stand down on this case'

He was also said to be depressed after an argument with his girlfriend that night, which some claim made him a prime target for violence in DC's high crime north west region.

However GOP lobbyist and DC lawyer Jack Burkman formally appealed to Congress to investigate the death after claiming he had evidence that Russia may be behind Mr Rich's murder.

'Nothing was taken from Seth – not his wallet, gold chain, credit cards or a sizeable amount of cash,' He told DailyMail.com in February. 'So you know there's no robbery gone awry.'

He said he was contacted by a man in his 60s, claiming to be a former US intelligence officer, who claimed 'it [the murder] was arranged by the Russian government at a very high level'.

Mr Burkman went on to say: 'He just said he had knowledge it was arranged by the Russian government and stressed that it was at a high level.

'I've met this person and he seems very credible. We're now investigating the allegations he has made.'

We're now investigating the allegations he has made.'

Mr Rich's family offered a reward for any information leading to how and why he was shot in the back after a night of heavy drinking at Lou's City Bar

However GOP lobbyist and DC lawyer Jack Burkman (left) formally appealed to Congress to investigate the death of Rich (right)

Burkman claimed to have been contacted by a former US intelligence officer who claimed 'it [the murder] was arranged by the Russian government at a very high level'

Another conspiracy theory claimed the DNC staffer was assassinated or on his way to an FBI meeting

A timeline of Rich's final hours was independently compiled through a Daily Mail Online investigation.

It cut against conspiracy theories which claimed the DNC staffer was assassinated or on his way to an FBI meeting when he was killed – although the crucial minutes leading up to his death are still unaccounted for.

Since then the murder has set off a flurry of international speculation and conspiracy theories including claims that Rich, who worked in the voter access department, was about the blow the whistle on Democratic voting fraud.

According to staff at Lou's City Bar, a sports pub Rich frequented five or six nights a week, it started off as any typical Saturday.

He showed up alone that evening and sat at his usual leather stool in the corner of the bar.

He was a regular at the pub, often showing up straight from the office in a shirt and tie and lugging his laptop bag.

By closing time, around 1.45am, Rich was unusually drunk. He would normally throw back Bell's beer for hours without a problem, but that night he was uncharacteristically unsteady on his feet as he made his way out the door.

Another theory claimed that Rich, who worked in the voter access department, was about the blow the whistle on Democratic voting fraud. Pictured: Burkman, right, campaigning in Washington

Police responding to the sound of multiple gunshots found Mr Rich lying on the street with bullet wounds at around 4.19am.

Rich's father said he was told by investigators that his son was shot in the back, and that he still had his cell phone, wallet and watch on him when he was found.

Rich was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly before 6am.

The coroner's office said it does not publicly release reports, but confirmed that cause of death was gunshots to the torso.