[Leonard D Neubache]

Here's some food for thought from StraightLineLogic. It details the wider implications about the FBI being aware of precisely what Richards had done in regards to exposing the DNC while simultaneously aiding and abetting the spread of false narratives about 'muh Russians'.

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Let’s Connect the Dots, by Robert Gore
Posted on May 17, 2017 | 31 Comments

If Seth Rich was the source of the WikiLeaks’ DNC email disclosures and the FBI knew it, then the Russian hacking story was a fabrication, and James Comey was probably involved in an attempt to drive President Trump from office.

The biggest story of the entire Russiagate controversy was published Tuesday. Not the story about President Trump’s alleged statement to former FBI Director James Comey: “I hope you can let this go.” A witness is only as good as his or her credibility. If the actual big story pans out, Comey has none, which is why the mainstream media is obsessing over Trump’s alleged statement and doing everything it can to ignore and stifle the other story.

Seth Rich was on the staff of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). He was gunned down on July 10, 2016. Robbery has been speculated as a motive for the murder, but his wallet and watch were not taken. There is also speculation that Rich was the source of the DNC emails that were released by WikiLeaks twelve days later, to the consternation and embarrassment of the DNC. Fueling that speculation was WikiLeaks’ offer of a $20,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of Rich’s murderer. WikiLeaks has neither confirmed nor denied that Rich was its source.

The emails appeared to show a concerted DNC effort to stop Senator Bernie Sanders’ primary campaign for the Democratic nomination and led to the resignation of party chairperson Debbie Wasserman Schultz. After WikiLeaks’ DNC disclosure, the DNC refused to let the FBI investigate its computer servers. Instead, it allowed a cybersecurity firm, CrowdStrike, to investigate. It’s conclusion, subsequently undercut, was that the Russians had hacked the DNC’s server.

Fox News reported that an unnamed source, almost certainly from the FBI, has seen and read emails between Seth Rich and the late Gavin MacFadyen, a director of WikiLeaks. A FBI forensic report on Seth Rich’s computer was allegedly compiled within 96 hours of his murder. The source said there were 44,053 emails and 17,761 attachments between DNC leaders transferred from Rich to MacFadyen from January 2015 through May 2016.

If this is correct, then within 96 hours of Rich’s murder, or by July 14, 2016, the FBI knew that Rich had communicated with WikiLeaks and it knew what he had communicated. That means that when WikiLeaks subsequently released the DNC emails on July 22, the FBI knew that Rich, not the Russian government, was the source. That would make the entire “Russia hacked the DNC” story nothing more than a concocted fabrication. Comey, the director of the FBI, surely knew the truth, and indeed was probably the mastermind behind the fabrication. If so, the subsequent investigation has been nothing but a sham, designed to discredit Trump and drive him from office. If that is indeed the case, Comey has zero credibility and his notes, supposedly made after a conversation with Trump, have zero credibility as well. Not only is Comey’s credibility destroyed, he, and potential coconspirators Barack Obama, James Clapper (Director of National Intelligence), John Brennan (Director of the Central Intelligence Agency until January 2017), could be charged with a myriad of criminal offenses, including treason. And who knows where a rejuvenated Seth Rich murder investigation might lead.

Which is why official Washington and its media are doing everything they can to squelch this line of inquiry. Curiously, even Fox News seemed ambivalent about its bombshell. Its story was titled “Family of slain DNC staffer Seth Rich blasts detective over report of WikiLeaks link,” and it led with a denunciation by the family of a private investigator it had itself hired, Rod Wheeler, for suggesting to Fox’s Sean Hannity the Rich-WikiLeaks connection. The general practice is to publish allegations and evidence, then the reactions from interested parties. The family released a statement through a spokesman, Brad Bauman.

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“As we’ve seen through the past year of unsubstantiated claims, we see no facts, we have seen no evidence, we have been approached with no emails and only learned about this when contacted by the press,” the statement said. “Even if tomorrow, an email was found, it is not a high enough bar of evidence to prove any interactions as emails can be altered and we’ve seen that those interest in pushing conspiracies will stop at nothing to do so.”

“We are a family who is committed to facts, not fake evidence that surfaces every few months to fill the void and distract law enforcement and the general public from finding Seth’s murderers. The services of the private investigator who spoke to the press was offered to the Rich family and paid for by a third party, and contractually was barred from speaking to press or anyone outside of law enforcement or the family unless explicitly authorized by the family.”

The Fox story didn’t even report, as WikiLeaks had reported in August 2016, that Brad Bauman was “a professional Democrat crisis PR consultant with the Pastorum Group.” Note that there is no point-blank denial by the family that Rich was WikiLeaks’ source.

There is a simple way to get to the bottom of all this: release Seth Rich’s computer to carefully vetted investigators. It is probably in the custody of the FBI, although it could be with the Washington Police Department, which is also investigating the murder. Rich’s computer will have the record of his email transmissions, unless someone tampered with the computer. If the record is intact, it will offer conclusive confirmation or refutation of the Fox story. If the record is not intact, or if the computer has been lost or is otherwise unavailable, or if its files have been corrupted, the conclusion is unavoidable: Seth Rich was the source for the WikiLeaks’ DNC email disclosure and the FBI knew it. The implications are horrendous.