Wednesday, March 5, 2025

FBI Under Fire for Withholding Seth Rich Documents;The FBI’s stonewalling tactics may soon face unprecedented scrutiny and potentially severe consequences for their handling of FOIA obligations.

 

FBI Under Fire for Withholding Seth Rich Documents

Redacted documents with a censored photograph.
The FBI’s determination to keep Seth Rich-related records concealed has ignited a firestorm of criticism, with attorney Ty Clevenger at the forefront of demands for transparency. The FBI’s stonewalling tactics may soon face unprecedented scrutiny and potentially severe consequences for their handling of FOIA obligations. What critical evidence about Seth Rich might the FBI be concealing from the public?

FBI’s Ongoing Refusal to Release Seth Rich Documents

The Federal Bureau of Investigation continues to withhold records related to Seth Rich, the Democratic National Committee staffer murdered in Washington, D.C., in July 2016 under mysterious circumstances. Attorney Ty Clevenger has been fighting since 2018 to obtain these documents through Freedom of Information Act requests, facing consistent resistance from the federal agency.

Rich’s murder occurred shortly before WikiLeaks released emails from the Clinton campaign and the DNC, fueling speculation about potential connections. Instead of releasing the requested records, the FBI has offered only to provide a Vaughn index—a document that lists withheld files and the justifications for their concealment.

The FBI initially denied possessing Seth Rich’s laptop until Clevenger’s legal efforts forced them to admit otherwise. This reversal of position has raised significant questions about the agency’s transparency and truthfulness in handling FOIA requests related to this high-profile case.

The Legal Battle for Transparency

Clevenger formally demanded the release of Seth Rich’s documents in February 2024, continuing a legal pursuit that began years earlier. His case, officially titled “Clevenger v. U.S. Department of Justice et al.,” was initially filed in the Eastern District of New York on March 14, 2018, and was presided over by Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom.

The legal journey has been fraught with obstacles, including the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys initially refusing to search for records without proof of Rich’s death. Although that particular denial was reversed on administrative appeal, the FBI continued to claim no records were found—a position later proven false when they admitted to having Rich’s laptop.

Clevenger’s investigation further uncovered that the FBI improperly withheld pages from the CrowdStrike report on the alleged 2016 DNC hack. This discovery adds another layer to concerns about the agency’s handling of information related to both the DNC breach and Seth Rich.

Potential Consequences and Political Attention

The ongoing secrecy surrounding the Seth Rich case may soon attract elevated political attention, with Clevenger suggesting that figures like Kash Patel and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi could become involved. Patel would bring significant expertise and public attention to the case.

If high-profile political figures do engage with this issue, the FBI’s FOIA office could face substantial consequences for their handling of these records. The case highlights the tension between government claims of necessary secrecy and the public’s right to information, particularly in cases that intersect with matters of significant public interest.

Although a clerk’s judgment was entered on April 6, 2020, granting the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, Clevenger has remained committed to pursuing transparency. His persistence exemplifies the ongoing struggle between citizens seeking government accountability and federal agencies claiming exemptions from disclosure requirements.

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