GOP lobbyist: Russia murdered DNC data analyst to cover up pro-Donald Trump hacking
Back on July 10 of last year, during the height of the 2016 election, Democratic National Committee data analyst Seth Rich was shot dead while walking alone in his neighborhood. Twelve days later, Russian-backed WikiLeaks released a number of emails it had hacked and stolen from the Democratic National Committee, harming Hillary Clinton and helping Donald Trump. And now a Republican lobbyist claims to have uncovered evidence that Russia murdered Rich in order to cover up its DNC hacking.
Jack Burkman, a GOP lobbyist, now claims he’s found digital evidence that Seth Rich had discovered Russia was behind the DNC hack, which he believes provides motive for Rich’s murder. The timeframe fits. The leaked emails were released on July 22nd, suggesting that the hacking itself took place sometime not long before Rich died. And his death has made no sense, as his wallet and other valuable items were left in plain sight on his person, suggesting it wasn’t a robbery.
So how credible is Jack Burkman? He’s not yet revealing what the specific evidence is. And he’s given an exclusive interview about the revelation to a tabloid newspaper, The Daily Mail in London, which isn’t the best of signs. Then again, the British press have been in some cases more willing to report on legitimate aspects of the Trump-Russia scandal than their U.S. counterparts. The Washington Post published a largely fruitless investigation into Rich’s death six weeks ago, but the storyline has since tapered off.
On the other hand, Burkman is an extremely conservative Republican operative, and he has no ideological reason to want to solve the murder of a Democratic National Committee employee. He’s offering a six figure reward for additional evidence that leads to the identity and conviction of Seth Rich’s killer.
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