Seth Rich Update

Seth Rich Update

This story sure stirs up the commentariat.  Conservative pundits such as Ben Shapiro and David French are running from it as fast as they can.  They seem very proud of distancing themselves from theories and questions posited by lesser intellects.

Even Sean Hannity, who has given visibility to the story and the implications it might have on the DNC and the Trump-Russia collusion narrative, has backed off further reporting, apparently at the request of the Rich family.  And Fox News has retracted the story which claimed private investigator Rod Wheeler had seen evidence linking Seth Rich to Wikileaks.

We’re not ready to run away from the story.

In another context, it always seemed odd to us that conservative pundits lampooned Trump’s tweet about having his ‘wires tapped’ because, according to them, ‘there is no evidence’.  With due respect, the pundits were taking on the role of defining what constitutes evidence, and/or conflating evidence with proof, and their take wasn’t convincing.  As just one example, transcripts of private one-on-one conversations involving Mike Flynn do not appear out of thin air.  The existence of such transcripts is evidence of surveillance.  Maybe an alternative explanation for the transcripts can be found; that is the work of investigation.  But to say ‘there is no evidence’ is nonsense.

Same situation with Seth Rich.  ‘There is no evidence!’ linking Seth Rich to Wikileaks or the DNC to Rich’s murder, say Shapiro and French.  To believe there are such links, and to believe investigation of his murder is being suppressed, requires an assumption of corruption throughout our DC government entities, and a level of collaboration among them that is not possible.

Well.

Seth Rich is dead, reportedly shot twice in the back sometime between 2 and 4 in the morning while walking home from a bar in a trendy, upscale part of DC.  Nothing was stolen from his person.  Those facts are evidence.  He was a DNC staffer; a Bernie Sanders loyalist.  Those facts are evidence.  Wikileaks’ dump of DNC emails occurred within two weeks of Rich’s death.  That fact is evidence.  Those emails showed, among other things, the ways in which the DNC was rigging the Democrat primary against Bernie Sanders and for Hillary Clinton.  That fact is evidence, too.

Julian Assange of Wikileaks referred to Rich’s untimely death and offered a reward for information that might help solve the murder.  He implied but never directly confirmed that Rich was a Wikileaks source.  All of those facts are evidence.  They are not by themselves proof that Rich leaked anything to Wikileaks, but they are evidence.

Interestingly, neither Assange’s reward nor other offers of reward for information about the murder have at this writing had any takers.  When street thugs are involved in or aware of a murder, rewards are usually enough to bring sources forward.  The absence of any response to the offers of reward does not prove anything, but again, it’s a fact and circumstance surrounding the Seth Rich case that points away from the bungled robbery theory.

Investigator Wheeler also reported that the DC police were called by former DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile, asking why they were newly snooping around the circumstances of Rich’s death.  That is evidence, too.  It doesn’t by itself explain why she called; maybe she’s protective of Rich’s grieving family; maybe she’s protective of the DNC.  Answering that question is the role of investigation.

And the known computer hacker Kim Dot.Com has issued a public statement saying he worked with Seth Rich and Wikileaks.  That is evidence.  Maybe the statement is true; maybe it is not true.  The fact that Kim Dot.Com has incidents in the past that raise questions as to his agenda or integrity do not prove his public statement about Rich is false.  It is the role of investigation to determine its truth or falsity, but the statement exists as evidence.

Rich’s parents and brother have consistently claimed to want to know the truth regarding Seth’s murder.  Their latest op-ed says the police investigated Rich’s ‘private email and computer’ and found nothing relating to Wikileaks; the op-ed also states matter-of-factly that Seth did not have access to the emails of the DNC, John Podesta, Donna Brazile or Hillary Clinton.  Exactly how the parents knew what access to which DNC emails their son had or didn’t have isn’t explained (it sounds like something written by the Democrat PR strategist now advising the family); and the possibility that a millennial like Seth Rich might use more than one computer as an email device isn’t addressed.

This, too, is evidence; it refutes the conspiracy theory, and certainly needs to be included in the mix.  But it doesn’t prove Rich’s murder was a bungled robbery, either.

Last, the infamous James Comey testified to Congress that when the DNC email leaks hit the fan, the FBI offered to inspect the RNC computers and the DNC computers to determine if they had been hacked.  The RNC welcomed the inspection (and nothing was found); the DNC refused to allow the FBI to inspect.  Why?

There are many possible reasons the DNC may have refused the FBI’s offer that do not bear on Seth Rich’s murder; there are a few possible reasons that might bear significantly on Seth Rich’s murder.  Again, it is the role of investigation to answer these questions, but the DNC’s refusal to allow FBI investigation of their computers is evidence.

Last, anyone–sadly, including Seth Rich’s parents and brother–who believes an organization headed by Hillary and Bill Clinton is incapable of harassment, intimidation, violence and even murder in order to maintain power has either not paid attention to the history of the Clintons, or is a fool.

So count us in the camp with Seth Rich’s parents:  ‘…give law enforcement the time and space to do the investigation they need to solve [Seth’s] murder.’  There are plenty of facts, circumstances and evidence that need to be investigated, and questions answered, in one comprehensive investigation by a law enforcement authority with the legal and investigative horsepower to get the job done.  That hasn’t happened.

Pundits Shapiro and French apparently feel there has been enough investigation and all the questions have been answered.  We don’t.

Paul Gable