Since the Democratic National Committee emails were leaked a few weeks ago, three people associated with the DNC have all been found dead under what could be questionable circumstances. Some — including Bernie Sanders supporters — suspect the Clintons were behind the deaths, just more episodes in the alleged “Clinton body count” dating back to the 1990s. Others dismiss the speculation as left-wing conspiracy nuts. But until the police have completed their investigations and the medical examiners have released autopsy reports, it is premature to make any determinations.
Seth Rich
DNC staffer Seth Rich was mysteriously murdered in the streets of Washington, D.C., on July 10. Although it is being investigated as a robbery, his wallet, credit cards and watch were not taken. The 27-year old was shot in the back on July 10 at 4:15 a.m. near his affluent neighborhood, while he was reportedly walking home from his girlfriend’s apartment. Police still have no suspects, witnesses or motive. His mother told the local NBC station that there were bruises on his face, knees, and hands, apparently from trying to fend off his attackers.
Some are speculating that Hillary Clinton is behind the murder because Rich could have been the DNC staffer responsible for leaking the 20,000 damaging DNC emails to Wikileaks. The allegation is that powerful Sanders allies convinced Rich to leak the data. He had previously worked on the U.S. Senate campaign for Nebraska businessman Scott Kleeb, who lost his election. The Clinton Global Initiative provided funds for a clean energy business started by Kleeb, which had come under investigation after losing$300,000 in 2010 and another $300,000 in 2011 despite the subsidies. Rich was also previously employed at a data firm that had worked with the Clintons. After news of possible corruption emerged between the Clinton Global Initiative and Kleeb, supposedly that led to Sanders’ cronies pressuring Rich to leak what was going on.
Rich was a data analyst, so it is very possible he could have had access to the DNC’s emails. Julian Assange of Wikileaks said recently on TV that it wasn’t Russian hackers who intercepted the emails, as the Hillary Clinton campaign has alleged; instead, any one of a number of staffers within the DNC could have leaked them.
Emily Zanotti of HeatStreet, who is no leftist, has written a skeptical article about the conspiracy theories surrounding his death, analyzing Reddit threads. Reddit has contributors covering the circumstances of his death extensively, but they aren’t professional journalists, are mostly anonymous and can get things wrong, which hurts the credibility of the speculation.