Fury At ‘Conspiracy Theory’ Attorney From Family Of Murdered DNC Staffer
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Nathan Guttman March 4, 2017
When Republican lobbyist Jack Burkman volunteered to help solve the mystery of Seth Rich’s murder, a DNC staffer gunned down near his home in Washington, Rich’s family welcomed the gesture. They held a joint press conference with Burkman and worked together trying to reach out to people who could possibly have a clue leading to the killers. Burkman put up more than $100,000 of his own money as a reward for those coming up with useful information.
But now, Burkman has taken his investigative work into conspiracy theory territory and the Rich family feels betrayed. Earlier this week, the Republican lobbyists sent letters to Congress, claiming that he has leads indicating Russian involvement in Rich’s murder.
But members of the Rich family, who during the eight months since the murder have stressed time and again that conspiracy theories floating in regards to the event are false and painful, now feel Burkman has crossed the line. An unnamed family member told DCist that Burkman’s Russian theory is “hurtful” and distracting. “We don’t believe there’s any involvement of any of the different conspiracy theories. We’ve made that clear multiple times. Putting out statements with absolutely nothing tangible and no hard facts—that’s what I want to stop,” the family members said.
Burkman told the publication he is “honoring my commitment to Mary Rich,” Seth’s mother. But the family member disputed this account, arguing that talks about conspiracy theories regarding Seth Rich’s murder “chip away at his legacy.”
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected]
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
