DOUBLE MURDER OR A FALSE ALLEGATION?
COMPILATION AND COMMENTARY
BY LUCY WARNER
AUGUST 1, 2017


DONALD TRUMP AND SEAN SPICER MAY BE DEPOSED IN A LAWSUIT WHICH ALLEGES FOX NEWS MISQUOTED HIM AND DAMAGED HIS REPUTATION. IT IS LINKED TO STORIES OF A POSSIBLE DOUBLE MURDER (FOX SAYS THE DNC DID IT, AND SOME OTHER SOURCES LINK THE ORIGINAL TALE WITH TRUMP. THE VICTIMS ARE TWO FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS, MURDERED IN SIMILAR WAYS, ONE IN WASHINGTON DC AND THE OTHER IN BOCA RATON FLORIDA. THE STORY CLAIMS INVOLVEMENT BY SPICER AND TRUMP AS BEING BEHIND THE STORY, WHICH THE WHITE HOUSE DENIES STRONGLY. IT WOULD BE A VERY DARK SITUATION, IF IT WERE TO PROVE TRUE. AT THIS POINT IT IS MERELY A LAWSUIT WITH THE MURDER MYSTERY EMBEDDED WITHIN IT. HOWEVER, IT IS INTERESTING AT LEAST.

ORIGINAL FOX STORY DIRECTLY IMPLICATING THE PRESIDENT? WELL, ALMOST. ANYWAY, THIS STORY HAS BEEN REMOVED AS BEING BENEATH THE NORMAL FOX STANDARDS FROM THE FOX NEWS, AND IS SHOWING UP IN VARIOUS PLACES. ONE THING IS SOLID, THOUGH. FOX IS BEING SUED, AND THE PRESIDENT AND SEAN SPICER ARE BEING ASKED TO DO DEPOSITIONS. WE’LL PROBABLY HEAR MORE ABOUT IT.

http://web.archive.org/web/20170516133954/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/16/slain-dnc-staffer-had-contact-with-wikileaks-investigator-says.html
CRIME
Seth Rich, slain DNC staffer, had contact with WikiLeaks, say multiple sources
Malia Zimmerman
By Malia Zimmerman Published May 16, 2017 Fox News

The Democratic National Committee staffer who was gunned down on July 10 on a Washington, D.C., street just steps from his home had leaked thousands of internal emails to WikiLeaks, law enforcement sources told Fox News.

A federal investigator who reviewed an FBI forensic report -- generated within 96 hours after DNC staffer Seth Rich's murder -- detailing the contents Rich’s computer said he made contact with WikiLeaks through Gavin MacFadyen, a now-deceased American investigative reporter, documentary filmmaker, and director of WikiLeaks who was living in London at the time.

“My investigation up to this point shows there was some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks.”

Rod Wheeler, former DC homicide investigator

“I have seen and read the emails between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks,” the federal investigator told Fox News, confirming the MacFadyen connection. He said the emails are in possession of the FBI, while the stalled case is in the hands of the Washington Police Department.

The revelation is consistent with the findings of Rod Wheeler, a former DC homicide detective and Fox News contributor and whose private investigation firm was hired by Rich’s family to probe the case. Rich was shot from behind in the wee hours, but was not robbed.

“My investigation up to this point shows there was some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks,” Wheeler said. “I do believe that the answers to who murdered Seth Rich sits on his computer on a shelf at the DC police or FBI headquarters.”

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Rich was fiercely patriotic, say family members. (Rich family)

The federal investigator, who requested anonymity, said 44,053 emails and 17,761 attachments between Democratic National Committee leaders, spanning from January 2015 through late May 2016, were transferred from Rich to MacFadyen before May 21.

On July 22, just 12 days after Rich was killed, WikiLeaks published internal DNC emails that appeared to show top party officials conspired to stop Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont from becoming the party’s presidential nominee. That controversy resulted in Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigning as DNC chairperson. A number of Sanders supporters refused to back party nominee Hillary Clinton, and some subsequently formed groups to work against Clinton and the party.

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Seth Rich, shown here with his mother, was idealistic and wanted to change the world, his father said. (Rich family)

WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange has stopped short of identifying Rich as the source of the emails, but has taken a keen interest in the case, and has not denied working with Rich.

“WikiLeaks has decided to issue a US$20k reward for information leading to conviction for the murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich,” the organization announced.

Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department has no suspects and no substantial leads as to who the killer or killers may be, sources close to the investigation said. Metropolitan Police, including the police chief, have refused to discuss the case, despite requests from Fox News dating back 10 months.

The FBI’s national office declined to comment, but sources said the bureau provided cyber expertise to examine Rich’s computer.

Wheeler believes powerful forces are preventing the case from a thorough investigation.

“My investigation shows someone within the D.C. government, Democratic National Committee or Clinton team is blocking the murder investigation from going forward,” Wheeler told Fox News. “That is unfortunate. Seth Rich’s murder is unsolved as a result of that.”

The botched robbery theory, which police have pursued for nearly a year, isn’t panning out, Wheeler said. Two assailants caught on a grainy video tape from a camera posted outside a grocery mart, shot Rich twice in his back, but did not take his wallet, cell phone, keys, watch or necklace worth about $2,000.

Police should consider all angles, Wheeler said, especially in light of Assange’s statements to a Dutch television reporter who asked about Rich.

“I am suggesting,” Assange told the Dutch reporter, “that our sources take risks, and they, they become concerned to see things occurring like that.”

On Twitter, WikiLeaks announced the reward but said Assange’s statement “should not be taken to imply that Seth Rich was a source for WikiLeaks or to imply that his murder is connected to our publications” because WikiLeaks has a policy not to release the names of its sources, even after their death.

In subsequent appearances on Fox News Channel, Assange confirmed, “We're interested in anything that might be a threat to alleged WikiLeaks sources.”

Assange has not returned a series of recent emails from Fox News about Rich. MacFadyen, who was considered a mentor by Assange, died of lung cancer on Oct. 22 at age 76.

D.C. police have announced a $25,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of Rich’s killer. Republican lobbyist Jack Burkman has offered a separate $130,000 reward.

Rich had been at Lou’s City Bar a couple of miles from his home until about 1:15 a.m. He walked home, calling several people along the way. He called his father, Joel Rich, who he missed because he had gone to sleep. He talked with a fraternity brother and his girlfriend, Kelsey Mulka.

Around 4:17 a.m., Rich was about a block from his home when Mulka, still on the phone with him, heard voices in the background. Rich reassured her that he was steps away from being at his front door and hung up.

Two minutes later, Rich was shot twice. Police were on the scene within three minutes. Rich sustained bruising on his hands and face. He remained conscious, but died at a nearby hospital less than two hours later.

Police detectives will not say whether Rich provided them with any clues about the identity of his attackers or their motivation, Wheeler said. However, Wheeler believes Rich could have provided information prior to his death of who was responsible for carrying out his murder.

Police also have refused to release security footage from a market on the corner of the crosswalk where Rich was killed. The footage, sources told Fox News, shows two people following Rich across the tiny crosswalk just moments before he was attacked. The camera captured grainy footage of the assailants’ legs and Rich as he fell backward into the street after being shot.

Wheeler said normally police would release the footage to the media. The family also should be privy to the entire case jacket, with all the details of the case, unless they are considered suspects, Wheeler said. However, to date, the family has not received a copy of the tape or most of the details related to their son’s murder case. The homicide case remains open, according to a spokesperson for D.C. police.

Rich's father, Joel Rich, could not be reached for comment, but told Fox News in January that he didn’t believe his son would leak the emails. However, he said above all, his son "wanted to make a difference in the world."


Malia Zimmerman is an award-winning investigative reporter focusing on crime, homeland security, illegal immigration crime, terrorism and political corruption. Follow her on twitter at @MaliaMZimmerman



INVESTIGATOR’S LAWSUIT REQUESTING TRUMP AND SPICER’S DEPOSITIONS

https://www.yahoo.com/news/lawyer-wants-trumps-testimony-fake-news-suit-fox-234116198.html?soc_trk=gcm&soc_src=433beca8-469f-3942-9fad-a13615dd8aa8&.tsrc=notification-brknews
Lawyer wants Trump’s testimony in ‘fake news’ suit against Fox
Michael Isikoff and Hunter Walker Yahoo News August 1, 2017

WASHINGTON — The lawyer for a Washington private investigator who is suing Fox News over its use of allegedly invented quotes in a news story advancing a bizarre conspiracy theory said Tuesday he will seek to depose President Trump and former White House press secretary Sean Spicer to question them over their roles in the affair.

“We’re going to litigate this case as we would any other,” and that means “we’ll want to depose anyone who has information,” including the president, said attorney Douglas Wigdor, who is representing the investigator, Rod Wheeler.

The lawsuit was filed in a New York federal court on Tuesday against Fox News, one of its reporters, Malia Zimmerman, and Ed Butowsky, a Dallas-based financier who has often appeared as a commentator on Fox News and allegedly worked with Zimmerman on a story about the death of former DNC staffer Seth Rich.

According to the lawsuit, which was first reported by National Public Radio’s David Folkenflik, Butowsky on his own hired Wheeler, a former Washington, D.C., homicide detective, to investigate Rich’s murder. The 27-year-old Rich was shot on a Washington street one night last July in what police believe was a botched robbery.

The lawsuit charges Butowsky worked with Zimmerman to create a fake news story connecting Rich to the leak of emails from the Democratic National Committee, something intelligence agencies have said was orchestrated by the Russian government.

“Butowsky and Zimmerman were not simply Good Samaritans,” the lawsuit alleges. “They were interested in advancing a political agenda for the Trump Administration. Specifically, it was their aim to have Mr. Wheeler confirm that: i) Seth Rich was responsible for the leak of DNC emails to WikiLeaks; and ii) Seth Rich was murdered by a Democrat operative because he leaked the emails to WikiLeaks.”

The suit alleges that to support this narrative, Fox News manufactured quotes and attributed them to Wheeler, harming his reputation.

Wigdor told Yahoo News that Trump and Spicer are among a half dozen key witnesses he will seek to depose. The legal papers allege that Butowsky and Zimmerman met with Spicer at his White House office in April to discuss the upcoming story and that Trump himself specifically reviewed early drafts of the story and recommended editorial changes and an aggressive publishing schedule on the Fox News website.

In Rod Wheeler’s lawsuit against Fox News, Wheeler claims Fox fabricated quotes implicating DNC staffer Seth Rich in the WikiLeaks scandal and coordinated with the Trump administration on the story. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Wigdor released to Yahoo News audio recordings that he said support the lawsuit’s claim that Butowsky deliberately inserted fake quotes from Wheeler into a Fox News story that appeared on May 16 and has since been retracted. According to the complaint, the phony quotes were inserted into the story because “that is the way the President wanted the article” after he reviewed a draft.

“One day you’re going to win an award for having said those things you didn’t say,” a voice that is said to be Butowsky can be heard saying to Wheeler on the tape recording provided to Yahoo News.

The story, which ran on the Fox News website under Zimmerman’s byline, asserted that Rich, who was a data specialist at the DNC, had provided a cache of internal DNC emails to WikiLeaks, which in turn made them public. The story received widespread attention on Fox host Sean Hannity’s TV show and in other conservative, pro-Trump media for obvious reasons: If true, it would have undercut the unanimous conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that the theft of emails was perpetrated by Russian state-sponsored hackers to boost Trump’s candidacy and harm Hillary Clinton.
But no evidence has surfaced that Rich had any connection to WikiLeaks or the theft of the emails. The Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department believes that Rich died as a result of a botched street robbery, although there have been no arrests.

Zimmerman’s story was retracted on May 23, one week after it was published. Fox News released a statement about the article’s removal on the network’s website.

“The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting. Upon appropriate review, the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed,” the statement said.

Wheeler’s complaint includes evidence, in the form of text messages and emails, to support its claims that Trump and Spicer were involved in crafting and promoting the May 16 story. But the emails and text messages are from Butowsky, attributing comments and actions to the president, not directly from the president or anybody at the White House.

“Not to add any more pressure but the president just read the article,” Butowsky texted Wheeler on May 14, 2017, two days before the story ran on Fox’s website. “He wants the article out immediately. It’s now all up to you. But don’t feel the pressure.”

Moments earlier, according to the complaint, Butowsky left a voicemail on Wheeler’s phone, saying: “A couple of minutes ago I got a note that we have the full, uh, attention of the White House, on this. And tomorrow, let’s close this deal, whatever we’ve got to do. But you can feel free to say that the White House is onto this.”


White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks at the daily briefing at the White House on Aug. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

At a White House press briefing today, Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied the lawsuit’s claim about a White House role in crafting the Fox News story. “The president had no knowledge of the story and it is completely untrue that there was White House involvement in the story,” said Sanders. “Beyond that, this is ongoing litigation and I refer you to the actual parties involved, which aren’t the White House.”

Sanders did not respond to an email asking whether Trump would be willing to give a deposition in the lawsuit. Spicer also did not respond to a request for comment from Yahoo News. However, Spicer had earlier told NPR that he did agree to meet with Wheeler and Butowsky at the White House as a “courtesy” to Butowsky.

Butowsky did not respond to a call and email request for comment from Yahoo News. But the National Law Journal quoted him Tuesday as saying, “The whole thing is bulls***,” before hanging up. He had previously told NPR that he was “obviously joking” in his references to the president.

Zimmerman could not be reached despite multiple attempts on Tuesday. At one phone number associated with her name, a man answered and identified himself as “a family member.” The man said he had been “harassed by the media all day.”

“If you call me again I am going to send you a lawsuit so don’t call me again,” the man said before hanging up.

In a statement, Fox News’ President of News Jay Wallace said, “The accusation that FoxNews.com published Malia Zimmerman’s story to help detract from coverage of the Russia collusion issue is completely erroneous.” Wallace further claimed the story’s retraction is “still being investigated internally and we have no evidence that Rod Wheeler was misquoted by Zimmerman.”

The quotes attributed to Wheeler in the retracted story portray him as supporting the unfounded conspiracy theories about Rich. “My investigation up to this point shows there was some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks,” was one of the quotes attributed to Wheeler. Another has him saying: “My investigation shows someone within the DC government, Democratic National Committee or Clinton team is blocking the murder investigation from going forward. That is unfortunate. Seth Rich’s murder is unsolved as a result of that.”

The claim that the White House had a role in crafting the Fox News story brought a quick comment Tuesday from the DNC.

“If these allegations are true, it is beyond vile that the White House — and possibly even Trump himself — would use the murder of a young man to distract the public’s attention from their chaotic administration and Trump’s ties to Russia,” DNC spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement. “The Rich family has begged those responsible for these conspiracies to stop. And yet, Trump’s allies have ignored their pain and their pleas, degrading the office of the president by spreading repulsive lies.”

Hinojosa further suggested the allegations “should outrage any decent human being” and accused “Trump’s associates and their conspirators at FOX” of adding to the Rich family’s pain.

Brad Bauman, a spokesman for the Rich family, said the conspiracy theories were painful for the Rich family. While he would not address the merits of the allegations in the suit, Bauman said he hoped it would put an end to the questions surrounding Rich’s death.

“While we can’t speak to the evidence that you have, we are hopeful that this brings an end to what has been the most emotionally difficult time in our lives and an end to conspiracy theories surrounding our beloved Seth,” said Bauman.



THIS A TANTALIZING, THOUGH MOST LIKELY COINCIDENTAL, LINK WITH THE BOCA RATON MURDER, WHICH IS ALSO RELATED TO THE DNC. NO PROOF, NO CRIME, RIGHT? STILL, WHOEVER WROTE THIS ARTICLE LINKED THE TWO INVESTIGATORS’ DEATHS TO THE DNC CASE. THE STORY BELOW STATES: “HIS DEATH BARES [SIC] STRIKING SIMILARITIES TO THE DEATH OF MURDERED DNC WHISTLEBLOWER SETH RICH.”

THERE ARE TWO CONFLICTING STATEMENTS WITHIN THIS STORY. ONE SAYS THAT WHISENANT WAS INVESTIGATING MAIL THEFT RELATED TO VOTER FRAUD, WHILE THE OTHER SAID THAT IT WAS SEVERAL VISA AND PASSPORT FRAUD CASES (RUSSIANS, PERHAPS?) IN EITHER CASE IT COULD BE A LINK WITH THE WHITE HOUSE HERE – HE WAS INVESTIGATING A VOTER FRAUD CASE, WHICH IS DONALD TRUMP’S FAVORITE SUBJECT. IT’S ALSO TRUE THAT THIS FLORIDA MURDER OCCURRED WITHIN TWO WEEKS OF THE WASHINGTON DC CASE. THE FOLLOWING NEWSWEEK STORY PUTS THE WHOLE ISSUE INTO THE RIGHT-WING CONSPIRACY THEORY PILE; ONLY THE RIGHTIST SOURCES SAY THAT THE MURDERER IS CONNECTED TO THE DNC AND NOT DONALD TRUMP, OF COURSE. SEE NEWSWEEK: HTTP://WWW.NEWSWEEK.COM/WHISENANT-FAKE-NEWS-FAR-RIGHT-THEORY-618744. FOR A 16 MINUTE VIDEO ON WHISENANT AND HIS CONNECTION WITH THE DNC, BY A RIGHT-WING COMMENTATOR WHO USED A NUMBER OF DIRTY WORDS, GO TO:
HTTPS://VIDEO.SEARCH.YAHOO.COM/SEARCH/VIDEO?FR=YSET_IE_SYC_ORACLE-S&P=WHISENANT+BERANTON+DNC#ID=1&VID=520245464897122BECFEBDE44F58448F&ACTION=CLICK.


https://mainerepublicemailalert.com/2017/05/27/voter-fraud-federal-investigator-found-murdered/
Voter Fraud Federal Investigator Found Murdered
Posted on May 27, 2017 by David Robinson

Photograph -- A federal prosecutor involved in the investigation of voter fraud connected to the DNC was found dead on a Miami beach on Wednesday.

According to reports, Beranton J. Whisenant Jr was discovered in the water by a passer-by on Hollywood Beach on Wednesday at 4.30am. His death bares striking similarities to the death of murdered DNC whistleblower Seth Rich.

The prosecutor had been shot in the head, according to police. Residents who spotted the body claim he had all of his personal effects on him when he was discovered, which rules out the likelihood of a robbery.

Whisenant worked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami in its major crimes unit. He was investigating a mail theft case involving voter fraud.

Wptv.com reports:

Hollywood police spokeswoman Miranda Grossman said Thursday that the body of 37-year-old Beranton J. Whisenant Jr. was found early Wednesday by a passerby on the city’s beach.

She said detectives are trying to determine if the death was a homicide, suicide or something else.

Whisenant worked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami in its major crimes unit.

He had joined the office in January. Court records show he had been handling several visa and passport fraud cases.

Acting U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg said in a statement that Whisenant was a “great lawyer and wonderful colleague.” The office declined to comment on the investigation.


About David Robinson
REVISED: David Robinson is an Author and Journalist living in the mid-coast area of Maine. He is a Graduate and Alumni of the Brunswick Police Academy. He served as a JUROR seated on the Cumberland County, Maine, Grand Jury for the first four-month session of 2014. Publisher Robinson served 3 months of a 4-month sentence for Conspiracy to defraud the United States, at the FCI Berlin minimum security Satellite Camp in Berlin New Hampshire, as retaliation after he and a friend sued the IRS, unsuccessfully, for Unfair Trade Practices, under Title 15 of the US Code.