A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government must turn over the contents of Seth Rich's laptop, which was seized during the investigation into the 2016 murder of the Democratic National Committee employee.
Judge Mazzant ordered the government to provide the information about the seized computer within 14 days. He also stated that the government should respond to requests under the Freedom of Information Act.
New Court order on a Seth Rich FOIA lawsuit –
The FBI is ordered to "produce the information it possesses related to Seth Rich's laptop" within 14 days.
credit to @Ty_Clevenger pic.twitter.com/RO730Z7ik9
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) September 29, 2022
The order was met with mixed reactions on social media, with some users making light of it and others suggesting that the documents would be returned as black lines.
New Court order on a Seth Rich FOIA lawsuit –
The FBI is ordered to "produce the information it possesses related to Seth Rich's laptop" within 14 days.
credit to @Ty_Clevenger pic.twitter.com/RO730Z7ik9
— Techno Fog (@Techno_Fog) September 29, 2022
The Washington Post reported that the death of Seth Rich, who was a high-profile Democratic Party official, had sparked speculations about a possible link between his death and an email hack.
According to Rich's family, the investigation did not find evidence of communication between him and anyone associated with Wikileaks or the group. The newspaper also reported that the detectives who searched his computer and email were able to find no evidence of such activity.
Various news outlets also reported that the FBI was holding Rich's emails, while the case was being handled by the Washington Police Department. One outlet also claimed that the government was investigating claims that Rich had been in contact with Wikileaks.
The Post also noted that Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, had been maintaining rumors about a possible link between Rich and the group without providing evidence. He also offered a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect.
The death of Rich, which occurred during the investigation into the 2016 murder of a Democratic National Committee official, sparked speculations about a possible link between his death and an email hack. The party had initially claimed that the Russians had accessed its computers, but the FBI would not allow it to prove its claim. After releasing a statement attributed to Crowdstrike, the Democratic National Committee then claimed that the FBI never asked to inspect its servers.
In January 2019, the Democratic National Committee claimed that it had been the victim of a hacking attack. It also continued to maintain that Donald Trump was partly responsible for the incident.