WikiLeaks suggests murdered DNC staffer was source for leak

Hillary Clinton (White House photo)

Three people with tangential connections to Bill and Hillary Clinton have died in unusual circumstances over the last few weeks, sparking a renewed interested in the so-called "body count" of people who allegedly got in the way of the "Clinton machine."

And even WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared to suggest Tuesday that recently murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich, a 27-year-old Democratic National Committee staffer who was shot near his townhouse in Washington, D.C. last month, was the source of the WikiLeaks-exposed DNC emails.

Assange hinted at the newest revelations during an interview on the Dutch television program Nieuwsuur.

"Our whistleblowers go to significant efforts to give us material, at often very significant risks," Assange said. "There was a 27 year old, works for the DNC, who was shot in the back, murdered just a few weeks ago for unknown reasons other than that he was walking down the street in Washington."

The interviewer interjected, "That was just a robbery, I believe, wasn't it?"

Assange replied, "No, there's no finding."

The interviewer asked, "What are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting that our sources take risks and they become concerned to see things occurring like that," Assange continued.

"But was he one of your sources then?" asked the interviewer.

"We don't comment on who our sources are," Assange said. "We have to understand how high the stakes are in the United States. Our sources are, you know, our sources face serious risks. That's why they come to us, so we can protect their anonymity."

Assange continued, "Others have suggested that [Rich was murdered]. We are investigating. If you understand what happened in that situation with Seth Rich, I think it is a concerning situation. There's not a conclusion yet. We wouldn't be willing to state a conclusion, but we are concerned about it. More importantly, a variety of WikiLeaks sources are concerned when that kind of thing happens."

WikiLeaks is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Rich's killer.

Watch the interview:

Is there something to the talk of a growing body count, or is it all just in the minds of "conspiracy nuts" who intersect with reality only on rare occasion?

The question was raised in a commentary Tuesday by Rachel Alexander at Townhall.

She cited the recent deaths of Democratic National Committee worker Seth Rich on July 10; Shawn Lucas, who helped serve the DNC with a summons in a fraud allegation, on Aug. 2; and John Ashe, the former president of the United Nations General Assembly, on June 22, just before he was scheduled to begin pretrial meetings "involving shady financial dealings regarding a former Clinton crony."

"Since the Democratic National Committee emails were leaked a few weeks ago, three people associated with the DNC have all been found dead under what could be questionable circumstances," Alexander wrote. "Some – including Bernie Sanders supporters – suspect the Clintons were behind the deaths, just more episodes in the alleged 'Clinton body count' dating back to the 1990s. Others dismiss the speculation as left-wing conspiracy nuts. But until the police have completed their investigations and the medical examiners have released autopsy reports, it is premature to make any determinations."

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The recent deaths:

Seth Rich, a DNC staffer, reportedly was shot in the back on July 10 in Washington while he apparently was walking home from his girlfriend's apartment. Reported Alexander: "Some are speculating that Hillary Clinton is behind the murder, because Rich could have been the DNC staffer responsible for leaking the 20,000 damaging DNC emails to WikiLeaks. The allegation is that powerful Sanders allies convinced Rich to leak the data." Her column notes that Rich previously worked on the failed U.S. Senate campaign of Nebraska businessman Scott Kleeb, whose clean-energy business had come under investigation after losing $300,000 in 2010 and another $300,000 in 2011 despite having been subsidized by the Clinton Global Initiative. Possible corruption between the CGI and Kleeb "led to Sanders' cronies pressuring Rich to leak what was going on." Continued Alexander: "The myth-debunking site Snopes labeled the suspicion over Rich's death as false. This is strange, since how does Snopes know that it is false? The police haven't even completed their investigation yet, which Snopes admits. Many murders go unsolved, including several of the strange deaths of people associated with the Clintons."

Shawn Lucas was part of a two-person team that served the DNC on July 3 with a complaint and summons on behalf of Sanders supporters. On Aug. 2, "he was found lying on the bathroom floor dead by his girlfriend." "His girlfriend said he was in good health."

WND reported just weeks ago on the death of former U.N. official John Ashe in his New York home. Some have speculated whether it was a case of "Hillary Clinton silencing people who 'know too much.'" That question was pointedly raised by Kosar at the Political Insider. The cause of death was reported as a heart attack, but the New York Post reported the local Dobbs Ferry police said "his throat had been crushed, presumably by a barbell he dropped while pumping iron." He was scheduled to testify in just days with Chinese businessman and co-defendant Ng Lap Seng, who was accused of smuggling $4.5 million into the U.S. and lying that it was to buy casino chips and more. The New York Post said Ng earlier was identified in a 1998 Senate document "as the source of hundreds of thousands of dollars illegally funneled through an Arkansas restaurant owner, Charlie Trie, to the Democratic National Committee during the Clinton administration."

The Political Insider previously reported on the mysterious deaths of colleagues of the Clintons.

"In fact, 46 people who were close to the Clintons have died during their 3 decades of political power. That number should give us all pause. If Hillary Clinton was a Republican, that number would be the question asked by reporters every day," the report said.

Commenters at the Insider submitted lists of 46 names of the "many 'friends' of the Clintons."

They included James McDougal, the Clintons' convicted Whitewater partner who died of an apparent heart attack while in solitary confinement. He was a key witness in Ken Starr's investigation.

There also was Ron Brown, who died after a plane crash. The report said a "pathologist close to the investigation reported that there was a hole in the top of Brown's skull resembling a gunshot wound." It said Brown was being investigated at the time of his death and "spoke publicly of his willingness to cut a deal with prosecutors."

Also on the list: Ed Willey, "found dead November 1993 deep in the woods in VA of a gunshot wound to the head. Ruled a suicide. Ed Willey died on the same day his wife Kathleen Willey claimed Bill Clinton groped her in the Oval Office in the White House. Ed Willey was involved in several Clinton fundraising events."

Also, Vince Foster "died of a gunshot wound to the head, ruled a suicide."

WND reported only weeks ago the author of a book about Hillary Clinton and Foster says Clinton triggered Foster's death by bullying him unmercifully, calling him out from among his colleagues as a failure.

The claim comes from Ronald Kessler, formerly an investigative reporter with the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, and the author of "The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives of the Presidents and The Secrets of the FBI."

Kessler wrote about his claim in Britain's Daily Mail newspaper.

The controversies surrounding Foster's 1993 death recently resurfaced with Hillary Clinton's Republican presidential rival Donald Trump calling it "fishy" and saying the issue should be taken "very seriously."

WND reported that Hillary Clinton repeatedly tried to reach Foster on his final day.

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WND also reported earlier this year on "the body count," a collection of names of people associated with Clinton administration scandals who died mysterious and often violent deaths.

Former WND investigative reporter David Bresnahan broke the story of the list during the summer of 1997 while researching his book "Cover Up: The Art and Science of Political Deception."

"I started looking into all the various deaths of people that were involved in various Clinton scandals," Bresnahan said in 1999. "I started to investigate the entire picture instead of just one focused event."

"It was common discussion on radio talk shows," Bresnahan said. "Every student of the Clinton scandals would run into the list."

Alexander also noted: "Victor Thorn, who wrote four books exposing the Clintons, reportedly killed himself with a gun on his 54th birthday, August 1, while on top of a mountain near his Pennsylvania home. The books he wrote were 'Hillary (And Bill): The Sex Volume,' 'Hillary (And Bill): The Drugs Volume,' and 'Hillary (And Bill): The Murder Volume,' and his latest which was published in February, 'Crowning Clinton: Why Hillary Shouldn't Be in the White House.'"

She continued, "According to the Inqisitr, Thorn had appeared multiple times on The Russell Scott Show and told the host, 'Russell, if I’m ever found dead, it was murder. I would never kill myself.'"

And, Alexander said: "Joe Montano, an aide to Hillary's running mate Tim Kaine, died of a heart attack on July 25. He had worked for the DNC and was only 47. A man named Larry Nichols claimed on the Pete Santilli Show that he was hired as a hitman for the Clintons, and killed several people years ago."

"What it comes down to is this: how many other politicians have you heard of who have had so many mysterious deaths associated with them? You don't hear of a Bush body count – not even an Obama body count. Snopes, the left-leaning internet myth debunker, labels the Clinton body count as false. However, the main site that hosts a list of the Clinton body count reports that is constantly under attack by hackers of Hillary's," Alexander wrote.

That would be the What Really Happened blog, which has dozens of names and details of their deaths.

It was back in 1999 that WND reported, during Linda Tripp's two-day deposition with attorneys from Judicial Watch on the Clinton Filegate scandal, she mentioned a "list" that was given to her mysteriously.

While she believed the list was left at her workstation in the White House counsel's office by her former friend Monica Lewinsky, it originated with Bresnahan.

Bresnahan was able to construct such a lengthy list because he investigated all of the scandals surrounding Clinton.

"Nobody out there was putting it all together," he said at the time. "If you look at one scandal, you'll find one dead guy. When you investigate all Clinton scandals, you find similarities, you find common tactics, you find common actions and you find dead people."

During his research, Bresnahan came up with more than one list.

"Not only did I find a list of dead people, but I also found that there are over 100 people who have refused to testify," Bresnahan explained then.

"There is also a list of people who have gone to jail. There are 45 people who have gone to jail, some of them White House staff, Cabinet members as well as people from the Justice Department. So many of those (lists) developed when I started to pursue the big picture."