How ‘Seth Rich Emailed WikiLeaks’ Story Quickly Imploded

Seth Rich Image by Linkedin
The report that slain Democratic staffer Seth Rich was in contact with WikiLeaks sounded like a bombshell.
But it took only a few hours for the tale to be debunked as just the latest conspiracy theory surrounding the still-unsolved 2016 murder.
The source for the story, a private investigator ostensibly working for Rich’s family, suggested he was duped by Fox News into seemingly claiming that he had seen evidence of contact between Rich and the website.
“I only got that [information] from the reporter at Fox News,” Rob Wheeler later told CNN.
Right-wing media and some conspiracy theorists have been pushing the Rich story for months because they suspect he may have been murdered to cover up his supposed link to the massive leak of Democratic National Committee emails.
His Jewish family believes Rich was killed in a botched robbery in his gentrifying Washington neighborhood. The family has pleaded for the rumors to stop.
They may have made a misstep by agreeing to allow a wealthy conservative donor to fund a private investigation.
The gumshoe neglected to tell the family before agreeing to discuss the “new evidence” with Fox — which in turn spurred a new round of speculation about the puzzling slaying.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
Fast Forward 5 Jewish senators accuse Trump of using antisemitism as ‘guise’ to attack universities
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.