Seth Rich on July 4. (Photo via Twitter)An unsolved murder in Bloomingdale continues to play a role in election 2016 conspiracy theories.
Now, a Republican lobbyist says he is offering $100,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for killing Seth Rich, a 27-year-old staffer with the Democratic National Committee who was fatally shot in the early morning hours of July 10.
“There are too many dimensions to the tragedy and none seem to make any sense. I hope the $100,000 in additional money will finally get to the truth of what happened here and will either debunk the conspiracy theories or validate them,” Jack Burkman said in a statement, referring to the unfounded idea that Rich’s death was connected in some way to his work with the DNC.
D.C. Police say they haven’t found any links between Rich’s job and his death. “Right now we have more questions than answers,” D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said at a press conference in August alongside the Rich family, who was pleading with the public for tips that could help the police solve the case.
As of today, D.C. Police said there were no new updates on the investigation. They are offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction, as they do with all homicides.
In lieu of facts about Rich’s murder, some people in dark corners of the internet have taken to blaming Hillary Clinton. Transparency organization Wikileaks, which published the leaked DNC emails, fanned the flames by offering $20,000 for information about his death, and founder Julian Assange implied that Rich could have been the source of the emails.
Later, the organization said the reward “should not be taken to imply that Seth Rich was a source to WikiLeaks or that his murder is connected to our publications.”
Through a spokesperson, Rich’s family has requested that “the public to refrain from pushing unproven and harmful theories about Seth’s murder.” They added that “some are attempting to politicize this horrible tragedy, and in their attempts to do so, are actually causing more harm than good and impeding on the ability for law enforcement to properly do their job.”
Burkman, the GOP lobbyist, has appeared on 281 lobbyist registrations from the end of 2008 through this June, according to Influence Explorer. And despite his party affiliation, he doesn’t seem to be a fan of Donald Trump—in August he sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch requesting an investigation into the Republican nominee’s alleged corruption.
As far as his motivation for offering $100,000 towards solving Rich’s murder, Burkman said in the release that “this is not about politics. As a part of the D.C. political family, I am doing what I can to help solve this murder.”
As of today, there have been 98 homicides in D.C. this year, 48 of which remain unsolved.
Police are asking anyone with information to call 202-727-9099 or text 50411.
Rachel Kurzius