Former Washington, D.C. Homicide Detective Rod Wheeler claims that the police had mentioned to him that they were ordered to cover up the actual details surrounding the cause off DNC staffer Seth Rich’s murder.
The case concerning Seth Rich’s death was revived, as federal investigators confirmed that the Democratic National Committee staffer, who was murdered in 2016 had in fact been in contact with WikiLeaks.
Rich was shot dead in Washington, D.C., in July and the police had ruled the murder as a botched robbery, even though, nothing was stolen. The story surrounding Rich’s death received very little attention from the media, all until WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange implied that Rich was a source for the hacking group.
Rod Wheeler alleged on Monday that the true reasons surrounding the killing were covered by the police. “I have a source inside the police department that has looked at me straight in the eye and said, ‘Rod, we were told to stand down on this case and I can’t share any information with you.’” Wheeler said.
“Now, that is highly unusual for a murder investigation, especially from a police department. Again, I don’t think it comes from the chief’s office, but I do believe there is a correlation between the mayor’s office and the DNC and that is the information that will come out [Tuesday],” he added.
Wheeler also went on to state that his sources had mentioned that Rich had contacted WikiLeaks and that there is evidence backing the claim.
“The police department nor the FBI have been forthcoming,” Wheeler explained. “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.”
According a source, Rich transferred 44,053 emails sent between DNC officials to Gavin MacFadyen, a now deceased filmmaker and WikiLeaks director. Some conspiracy theories claim that Rich was murdered as he was transferring information from the DNC to WikiLeaks, however, up until Wheeler’s alleged claims, there haven’t been any publicly confirmed evidence to back the theories.
Following Rich’s death, WikiLeaks was noted issuing a statement, where they neither confirmed nor denied Rich’s link with them. Their statement read, “As a matter of policy we do not confirm or deny whether any person has ever been a source for WikiLeaks. We treat threats toward any suspected source of WikiLeaks with extreme gravity. This should not be taken to imply that Seth Rich was a source to WikiLeaks or to imply that his murder is connected to our publications. We hope our efforts will contribute to the family’s calls for information and to the separate reward issued by the police.”
