The records have regained attention recently due to the FBI resisting the release of the documents. At one point, the FBI requested that the records be sealed for 66 years due to privacy concerns for Seth Rich's family. However, in 2022, U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant provided the FBI with a court order that compelled them to produce some information. The public documents that the FBI released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) are accessible via The FBI Vault. The documents are split into parts labeled "Seth Rich Part 01 of 03." It is important to note that these files are heavily redacted and mostly contain procedural notes or correspondence notes rather than substantial evidence about Seth Rich's death or alleged activities. A 2020 FOIA release acknowledged that the FBI had over 20,000 pages that potentially related to Seth Rich, which includes data from his laptop. Only 142 pages have been made public; the rest are being withheld or under review.
The records center around the speculation that they contain emails, investigative files, and data collected from Rich's personal laptop. Initially, the FBI denied having any records, so attorney Ty Clevenger filed a FOIA lawsuit. The FBI then admitted that they possessed thousands of documents. These documents were narrowed down to 1,563 pages—only a tiny fraction of what has been released. An unidentified source claimed that the FBI referenced a compact disc that contained information from Seth Rich's laptop.
Seth Rich was born to a Jewish family in Omaha, Nebraska. His career in politics began when he volunteered for the Democratic Party during his high school years; he then went on to intern for Senator Ben Nelson during his sophomore and junior years of college. In 2011, Rich graduated from Creighton University with a Bachelor's degree in political science. He later moved to Washington, D.C., and began working for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) as a voter expansion data director in the 2016 election cycle. Shortly before his death, Rich was offered a position with Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in Brooklyn, NY.
At 4:20 am on July 10, 2016, in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington, D.C., 27-year-old Rich was shot twice in the back. Police officers found Rich conscious, and he was immediately taken to a nearby hospital, where he passed away over one and a half hours after being shot. Police believe Rich was murdered during an attempted robbery even though he still had his watch and wallet on him and in his possession. Police also found surveillance footage that showed a glimpse of two pairs of legs, which they believe could potentially be the killers. Rich's mother, Mary Rich, made a statement in 2016 to WRC-TV during an interview:
"There had been a struggle. His hands were bruised, his knees are bruised, his face is bruised, and yet he had two shots to his back, and yet they never took anything. They didn't finish robbing him; they just took his life."
It is speculated by many that Rich was the source of the DNC emails that were leaked to Wikileaks during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The DNC emails were leaked just 12 days after Rich's murder, and it exposed internal DNC communication that was damaging to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. It is believed by many that Rich obtained those emails, provided them to Wikileaks, and was then assassinated to silence him. During an August 2016 interview, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange offered a $20,000 reward for information on Seth Rich's murder. During that interview, Assange neither confirmed nor denied Seth Rich's involvement in the DNC email leaks but stated:
"Whistle-blowers go to significant efforts to get us material and often very significant risks. As a 27-year-old [who] works for the DNC, was shot in the back, murdered just a few weeks ago for unknown reasons as he was walking down the street in Washington."
The email leaks were blamed on Russian interference rather than Seth Rich. Robert Mueller served as the Special Counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, and he addressed Rich in his final report, which is commonly known as The Mueller Report that was released in April 2019 and states:
"Beginning in the summer of 2016, Assange and Wikileaks made a number of statements about Seth Rich, a former DNC staff member who was killed in July 2016. The statements about Rich implied falsely that he had been the source of the stolen DNC emails."
Even though Robert Mueller "debunked" the so-called conspiracy, documents found in Seth Rich Part 01 of 03 point in the direction of Hillary Clinton and Robert Mueller having involvement in his death. The images seen are emails from the Robert S. Mueller Special Counsel (RSMC). These emails are public and can be found in the FBI file labeled Seth Rich Part 01 of 03 on the FBI's record website, The Vault.
The exact nature of the records remains unknown due to limited releases and ongoing legal battles. The announcement came from attorney Ty Clevenger on X. Clevenger was informed on March 3, 2025, that no documents would be produced regarding Seth Rich and his death.
As of today, there has not been an official update from the DOJ or FBI. It is doubtful that the Seth Rich records will be released on March 10. However, the situation could change with court rulings or pressure from figures like Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel. Keep an eye on the DOJ and FBI websites and Ty Clevenger's X for updates.
It has been almost nine years, and Seth Rich's murder remains unsolved. No suspects have been found, and no arrests have been made regarding his murder. Individuals on X who believe that Seth Rich leaked the DNC emails have called him an "American hero" and a "patriot," praising his courage in standing against corruption.
EDITORS NOTE: Want to go deeper into the Seth Rich case? Here is more in-depth reporting from UncoverDC; please click below:
Dark to Light: Assange the World Turns
Dark to Light: The Report, Part II
Dark To Light: UncoverDC, The IRA, And Seth Rich
Dark To Light: Crime And Investigation
New developments in the Seth Rich case
Dark To Light: Beanz Flies Solo & Breaks Down The DNC Leak
No Proof of Russian Exfiltration: What does it mean?
Documents Released Pertaining to FBI Investigation into Seth Rich Murder
More Seth Rich FOIA Docs Re Mueller Crossfire Hurricane Investigation
New Seth Rich Documents in FBI Records Vault
Was Seth Rich’s Laptop National Security Evidence?
Dark to Light: Disclosure
