An anonymous 4 Chan poster claims that internet hacker Kim Dotcom's allegations that murdered Democratic aide Seth Rich was the source of Wikileaks has sparked 'complete panic' within the DNC.
The nameless individual, who claims to have spent 20 years working in DC, said the latest conspiracy theory, that Rich was killed because he was the source of the DNC leaks, had terrified high ranking officials.
Conservative TV host Sean Hannity has since repeated the claims that 'panic has set in at the highest levels of the Democratic Party.'
'I know for certain that the Seth Rich case has scared the s**t out of certain high ranking current and former Democratic Party officials,' the 'insider', who has provided not information to back up his claims or that he works in DC, wrote on the controversial discussion site 4 Chan.
An anonymous 4 Chan poster says that internet hacker Kim Dotcom's allegations that murdered Democratic aide Seth Rich was the source of Wikileaks has sparked 'complete panic' within the DNC
The nameless individual, who claims to have spent 20 years working in DC, wrote that he had never seen 'such a panicked reaction'
They added that this was why DNC executives had 'backed away from impeachment talk.'
'They know the smoking gun is out there, and they're terrified you will find it, because when you do it will bring the entire DNC, along with a couple of very big name politicians,' he added.
Conspiracy theories surrounding the death of Rich, who was gunned down in D.C. last July, are again swirling thanks to Dotcom's bold, and unsubstantiated claims, and a debunked news report from local station Fox5.
Seth Rich was shot in the back last July in D.C. Conspiracy theories have swirled around about his death, as some try to make a connection between Rich and Wikileaks' release of Democratic National Committee emails, which most believe were hacked by the Russians
Conservative TV host, and Trump supporter Sean Hannity, repeated the claim that 'complete panic' had set in at the DNC
Last Monday, Fox5 ran a piece in which an individual, Fox New legal commentator, Rod Wheeler, said it was 'confirmed' that Rich had ties to Wikileaks.
Wheeler was identified as the Rich family's investigator.
In reality, Wheeler's investigation has been funded by a third-party, and the Rich family sent him a cease and desist.
'As we've seen through the past year of unsubstantiated claims, we see no facts. We have seen no evidence. We have been approached with no emails and only learned about this when contacted by the press,' Rich's family said in a statement. 'We are a family who is committed to facts, not fake evidence that surfaces every few months to fill the void and distract law enforcement and the general public from finding Seth's murderers.'
People on the right have been trying to connect the dots between Rich and Wikileaks, as it would provide an explanation for why Rich was killed, and also taint the storyline that Russia was behind the Democratic National Committee hack.
Since the Fox5 story came out, not only did Rich's family refute the claims, but D.C. officials pushed back.
Internet hacker Kim Dotcom took to Twitter over the weekend and said he was involved in releasing the Democratic National Committee's emails to Wikileaks, along with murdered staffer Seth Rich
Online mogul Kim Dotcom said over the weekend that he knew Seth Rich and knew that the staffer was Wikileaks' source, of which there is zero evidence
Big name conservatives including Sean Hannity have been fanning the flames of the Seth Rich conspiracy theory. The Fox News personality later invited Kim Dotcom on a future show
'This is a robbery that ended tragically,' Deputy Mayor Kevin Donahue told the local NBC affiliate News4. 'That's bad enough for our city, and I think it is irresponsible to conflate this into something that doesn't connect to anything that the detectives have found.'
'No Wikileaks connection,' he enunciated.
But just as NBC, along with CNN and the Washington Post – including a deep dive by the Post's Dave Weigel on how the Rich story really is 'fake news' – tried to drown the conspiracy theories, Dotcom and several figures on the right brought it back.
Dotcom, a German-Finnish internet entrepreneur known for founding Megaupload, jumped into the conversation Friday, four days after the Fox5 story ran.
He said he knew murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Rich who 'gave the political party's trove of emails to Wikileaks.'
'I knew Seth Rich. I know he was the Wikileaks source. I was involved,' Dotcom cryptically tweeted on Saturday.
'If Congress includes #SethRich case into their Russia probe I'll give written testimony with evidence that Seth Rich was Wikileaks source,' Dotcom tweeted.
It was then a back-and forth on Twitter with Fox News host, and prominent President Trump supporter Sean Hannity, that got Dotcom to articulate a second time, that Rich was Wikileaks' source.
Shortly thereafter, Hannity called on Dotcom to be a guest on his television and radio shows and demanded that Congress look into the young staffer's murder.
'Is it possible that one [of the] greatest lies ever told is soon exposed?' Hannity mused, previewing an 'announcement' that Dotcom planned to give.
The anonymous DC insider has since added that the DNC was 'near open panic' about such claims.
'To even mention this name in D.C. Circles [sic] will bring you under automatic scrutiny. To even admit that you have knowledge of this story puts you in immediate danger. If there was no smoke there would be no fire. I have never, in my 20 years of working in D.C. Seen [sic] such a panicked reaction from anyone.'
He added that both Podesta and Hillary Clinton had received anonymous calls and emails from people who shared their belief in the conspiracy theory.
According to an account from Radar Online, Dotcom will release more information on the matter Tuesday, once he talks to his lawyers.
Hannity also suggested that, 'Complete panic has set in at the highest levels of the Democratic Party,' though offered no proof.
On Sunday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich chimed in.
'We have this very strange story here of this young man who worked for the DNC who was apparently assassinated at four in the morning having given Wikileaks something like 23,000 – I'm sorry, 53,000 – emails and 17,000 attachments,' Gingrich said on Fox News Sunday.
'Nobody's investigating that, and what does that tell you about what was going on, because it turns out it wasn't the Russians, it was this young guy who, I suspect, who was disgusted by the corruption of the Democratic National Committee,' the former House speaker continued.
'He's been killed, and apparently nothing serious has been done to investigate his murder. So, I'd like to see how [former FBI director Robert] Mueller is going to define what his assignment is, and if it's only narrowly Trump, the country will not learn what it needs to learn about foreign involvement in American politics,' Gingrich added.