Wikileaks is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the death of a Democratic National Committee staffer, reigniting rumors he fed the organization thousands of party emails.
Seth Conrad Rich, 27, was gunned down in the affluent Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington D.C. last month while he was on the phone to his girlfriend.
Wikileaks’ announcement Tuesday has added fuel to the flames of conspiracy theories claiming Rich leaked the 20,000 DNC emails that were released at the start of the party’s convention.
Rich’s body was found covered in bruises on the 2100 block of Flagler Place NW, but he still had his watch, cell phone and wallet on him.
So far, police have uncovered no clues to help solve his murder despite offering a $25,000 reward.
ANNOUNCE: WikiLeaks has decided to issue a US$20k reward for information leading to conviction for the murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich.
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 9, 2016
D.C. police chief Cathy Lanier said previously that Rich may have been killed in an attempted robbery, but his family insist nothing was taken from him.
The trail seems to have gone cold following his death on July 10.
A police report seen by TOT also states the circumstances surrounding Rich’s homicide are ‘unknown’.
The mystery has sparked a flurry of theories posted online, including claims he leaked DNC emails or that he was on his way to speak to the FBI when he was shot.
Reddit user The_Donald also constructed a timeline that links Rich to the Clintons, as pointed out by Heat Street.
He then says Rich developed a relationship with environmentalists supporting Bernie Sanders.
They then suggest this relationship was somehow connected to his death.
There is no evidence to suggest any of these claims are true.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange suggested the DNC leak may have been the work of an insider.
But he told DemocracyNow he didn’t know their identity, and wouldn’t reveal if he did.
In an interview with Britain’s ITV, he also suggested that anyone within the Democratic organization could have had access to the trove of emails.
Wikileaks published thousands of emails that rocked the Democratic National Committee on the eve of the party’s convention.
Assange says his group is in possession of ‘a lot’ of material related Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and that it will come out as the campaign proceeds.
Rich’s death came after a spate of robberies in the neighborhood and DC police are now investigating if the murder is connected to those.
According to NCB Washington, on Tuesday, Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Chief Peter Newsham said: ‘At this time, we don’t have any information to suggest that the case is in any way connected with his work at the DNC.’
WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange suggested that the Democratic National Committee staffer shot dead last month in Washington D.C. was killed because he was a “source.”
“Whistleblowers go to significant efforts to get us material and often very significant risks. As a 27 year-old, works for the DNC, was shot in the back, murdered just a few weeks ago for unknown reasons as he was walking down the street in Washington,” he told Dutch TV, referring to Seth Rich, who was gunned down in the early morning hours of July 10 while walking to his apartment in Bloomingdale.
The interviewer followed up by asking, “That was just a robbery, I believe. Wasn’t it?”
The WikiLeaks founder cryptically replied, “No, there’s no finding … I’m suggesting that our sources take risks.”
WikiLeaks recently released a trove of the stolen emails from top level staffers at the Democratic National Committee. The revelations in the emails led to resignations of the chair of the DNC, as well as top staff members.
In the interview, Assange refused to confirm Rich was a source.
“Why make the suggestion about a young guy being shot in the streets of Washington?” the interviewer asked.
“Because we have to understand how high the stakes are in the United States,” the WikiLeaks founder replied. “Our sources face serious risks. That’s why they come to us. So we can protect their anonymity.”
Metropolitan Police Department officials have not yet established a motive in the Rich’s death.
Joel Rich, Seth’s father, ruled out robbery in an interview with local affiliate KMTV.
“If it was a robbery, it failed, because he still had his watch, he still had his money, he still had his credit cards, still had his phone, so it was a wasted effort except we lost a life.”