Family Denies DNC Staffer Leaked Information to WikiLeaks

The family of a Democratic National Committee staffer who was fatally shot has rejected news reports that he leaked work emails to WikiLeaks before his death.

According to The Washington Post, Fox News reported Tuesday that an FBI forensics examination showed that Seth Rich transferred 44,053 DNC emails and 17,761 attachments to a WikiLeaks director who has since died.

A spokesman for Joel and Mary Ann Rich said Tuesday that they don't believe their son, who was shot in July 2016 in Washington, gave any information to WikiLeaks.

D.C. police have said they think Rich was killed in a random robbery attempt, but conspiracy theories have emerged about his death. No arrests have been made.

Federal and local law enforcement authorities say they have found no evidence that Rich sent any DNC information to WikiLeaks.

According to the Fox News report, private investigator Rod Wheeler, a retired D.C. homicide detective, said he has talked to D.C. police who have told them they have been told to back off the investigation.

Though ruled a robbery, none of Rich's valuables were taken.

"My investigation up to this point shows there was some degree of email exchange between Seth Rich and WikiLeaks," Wheeler told D.C.'s Fox 5 "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."

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has hinted in interviews that Rich provided information to his group, but later backed off, though he has never flat-out said Rich did not supply information.

Wheeler, appearing Tuesday night on Fox News Channel's "Hannity," said he has no proof that Rich leaked any emails to WikiLeaks and that his killing wasn't a simple random homicide, but added that after he first contacted D.C. police about his own investigation, a "high-ranking official" with the DNC called police and asked why Wheeler was "snooping around."