Who Was Seth Rich?

[MacCruiskeen]

Sorry if this is not from your preferred echo chamber...

No, it's from your preferred echo chamber. It's from the Guardian, a notorious cesspit of pseudleft warmongering neoliberal hacks, rapidly losing readers in the UK but now expanding successfully (what a surprise) into the American market.

Founded by textile traders and merchants, The Guardian had a reputation as "an organ of the middle class",[108] or in the words of C. P. Scott's son Ted, "a paper that will remain bourgeois to the last".[109] "I write for the Guardian," said Sir Max Hastings in 2005,[110] "because it is read by the new establishment," reflecting the paper's then-growing influence.

[...]

The paper was enthusiastic in its support for Tony Blair in his successful bid to lead the Labour Party,[117] and to be elected Prime Minister.[118] On 19 January 2003, two months before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, The Guardian reported: "Military intervention in the Middle East holds many dangers. But if we want a lasting peace it may be the only option. ... War with Iraq may yet not come, but, conscious of the potentially terrifying responsibility resting with the British Government, we find ourselves supporting the current commitment to a possible use of force."[119]

[...]

In 2008, Guardian columnist Jackie Ashley said that editorial contributors were a mix of "right-of-centre libertarians, greens, Blairites, Brownites, Labourite but less enthusiastic Brownites, etc,"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guard ... al_opinion

The screed you post from this struggling neoliberal rag is also completely off-topic, not that you give a shit, because you are here to waste people's time. Christensen's article adds literally nothing to the debate over Seth Rich, whom it mentions only once, in a deeply stupid passing reference that (of course!) doesn't fail to use your favourite CIA weaponised term:

the discredited Seth Rich conspiracy theory

You are no leftist and certainly no revolutionary, "American Dream". You are a neoliberal, a timewaster, and a fake. You clearly know nothing about Seth Rich and -- like your ideological allies in the DC police force, the Democratic Party machine, and the united corporate media -- you have no interest at all in seeing his murder seriously investigated. On the contrary.

So stop trolling this thread.

[Elvis]

Sorry if this is not from your preferred echo chamber...

[MacCruiskeen]

[...]

I looked at Wheeler’s website a couple of weeks ago but there wasn’t much information; pretty generic; home page a stock photo of a law library. There were two other ‘investigators’ listed, along w/phone numbers to reach them.

Again, who are any of the ‘major’ Washingtonian participants playing the Rich case?

Good question. Who has an interest in discrediting whom? And why? There are serious interests at stake, certainly. So there are dark alliances, for sure.

I haven't paid much attention to Wheeler so far. The article says his credentials are "debunked", but the fact that he has no PI licence does not in itself discredit his investigation. Did Gary Webb or Michael Ruppert have a PI licence? Did Mark Lane? Did Serpico? No, they did not, or at least not that I know of. In any case, it's completely irrelevant. It says absolutely nothing about the quality, integrity or success of their investigative efforts.

That article you quote provides some very interesting context towards the end:

The onslaught of national media coverage largely cast [sic!!!] Wheeler as a private investigator. Wheeler did not respond to numerous emails, phone calls, and notes left at his home and office over the past few weeks asking about his credentials. An attorney for Wheeler also did not respond to messages.

Ed Butowsky, a Dallas financial adviser, says he offered to pay Wheeler’s bills because the Rich family couldn’t afford a private investigator. He says he has no idea whether Wheeler is licensed. “I never even inquired because he’s somebody who does investigations,” says Butowsky, who adds that he met the Rich family after approaching them with information he learned about the murder.

“That is Rod’s business. I have no idea,” Butowsky says when asked about Wheeler’s licensing status. But he seems unfazed that Wheeler was mischaracterizing himself and operating outside the law, saying has done “amazing work.”

“Rod Wheeler has a very good background and a long history with the D.C. homicide,” Butowsky says, adding Wheeler hasn’t yet billed for his work. “He has lots of friends there.”

It’s true that Wheeler is a former detective, but his career at MPD ended in his firing. MPD confirms Wheeler’s past employment—and termination—in a statement: “Mr. Wheeler was employed with MPD from 1990 to 1995. He was dismissed from the agency.”

The department declined to elaborate, but a 2008 D.C. Office of Employee Appeals decision details the case of former detective Roderick Wheeler, who visited MPD’s health clinic in 1994 because he wasn’t feeling well, only to submit a urine sample that tested positive for marijuana.

Wheeler contested the charge. While it’s unclear how the appeal ended [???], the 2008 ruling says MPD charged Wheeler with insubordination and fired him in 1995.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news ... nsed-in-dc

So:

1) Rod Wheeler is a black former policeman who spent five years working as a detective for the DC MPD. This proves, NB, that he is a trained and experienced detective - that fact is not in any doubt, the hacks are just doing their very best to obscure it. He is also a man who knows Washington DC well.

2) In his fifth year with the DC police, Wheeler either commited the heinous crime of smoking a joint or else he was framed for it;

3) He then contested being fired for that heinous crime and may or may not -- why is this unclear? -- have been successful in his appeal;

4) Then he was charged, instead, with uppitiness "insubordination" and finally fired for that.

Very interesting. Looks like Rod Wheeler has been guilty of uppitiness "insubordination" yet again. "Hey! Wheeler! Get outa there! You're not ALLOWED to investigate!"

And now he's vanished without trace?

[Cordelia]

Excellent points, Mac.

“Mr. Wheeler was employed with MPD from 1990 to 1995.”

Parts of Washington were urban war zones during that time, when DC was still experiencing and reeling from (and MPDC was overwhelmed by) the crack cocaine epidemic of the late ‘80;s and early 90‘s. I can remember Washington referred to as the “nation’s murder capital.” So yes, Wheeler not ‘feeling well’ & using marijuana would seem a minor response and offense in an extremely high-stress, high-risk work environment.

The WaPo considered him credible enough to quote him in articles, one in 1994 (about the slaying of another police officer, Jason White ), and again in 2000, in the investigative (yes, once-upon-a-time) expose I’ve referenced previously on this thread, which was highly critical of D.C.’s homicide dept.

“Homicide Detective Rod Wheeler, a friend of White's, was one of the officers who answered the call for the shooting.

"Whenever something like this happens, all you can picture is yourself laying there. You know it is not because of who the officer is that he got killed, but because he is a police officer," Wheeler said.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/ ... 01a8ff5285

"There was no major drug king," said Rod Wheeler, a former D.C. police homicide detective. The killings, he said, "were more haphazard. It's more of a way of life."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/ ... 9cdb195620

That both would throw him under the bus isn’t very surprising.

[MacCruiskeen]

Excellent post yourself, Cordelia. That history provides invaluable context, precisely the thing the mass-media noise-machine works tirelessly to destroy.

Beyond the Context of No Context

George Trow, who died last month, lived to see his worst fears about the media confirmed. Scott McLemee revisits his legacy.

Inside Higher Ed, December 6, 2006

https://www.insidehighered.com/views/20 ... no-context

Trow deserves more readers.

That both [WaPo and MPDC] would throw him under the bus isn’t very surprising.

It's exactly what one would expect. I wonder if he has a history of investigating in places where he's not supposed to look..

One of the most disgusting -- and suspicious -- aspects of this marijuana-possession rap is the circumstances under which it took place:

The department declined to elaborate, but a 2008 D.C. Office of Employee Appeals decision details the case of former detective Roderick Wheeler, who visited MPD’s health clinic in 1994 because he wasn’t feeling well, only to submit a urine sample that tested positive for marijuana.

!!! So he felt ill, sought help at his own police clinic, and then the police clinicians tested their trusting patient's urine for marijuana? No wonder he contested their findings!

Now I really want to know if his appeal was successful or not. I strongly suspect that it was, and that that is what eventually got him fired for uppitiness "insubordination".

[SonicG]

This doesn't give you serious doubts about Wheeler??

In his apology Wheeler states, "During the O’Reilly Factor segment on June 21st, while engaged in a discussion on Lesbian gangs, I inadvertently stated that gang members carry pistols that are painted pink and call themselves the "Pink Pistol Packing Group." I was not referring to the gay rights group "Pink Pistols" who advocates for the lawful rights of gays to carry weapons for protection. Further, I mentioned that there are "over 150 of these gangs" in the greater Washington DC area. What I actually meant is that there are over 150 gangs in the Washington DC area, some of which are in fact lesbian gangs. Lastly, I mentioned in the segment that there is this "national epidemic" of lesbian gangs. A better choice of words would have been to say that there is a growing concern nationally, and especially in major urban areas, of increased gang activity, which includes some lesbian gang activity. I apologize for any misunderstanding this may have caused."
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/bill- ... report-on-

This is his ridiculous walk-back on claiming 150 lesbian gangs...to "some lesbian gang activity"...So I suppose he tried to spin his ridiculous TV appearance into a "Private Investigator" biz?

[MacCruiskeen]

This doesn't give you serious doubts about Wheeler??

Yes it does. Thanks for posting it. I'm trying to find out whatever I can about him. Anything true is useful.

That was ten years ago, in 2007, twelve years after the police had fired him for allegedly having marijuana in his blood and/or for "insubordination". Was that one of his first TV appearances? Maybe he had been finding it very difficult to find work? Maybe he was nervous and just blathering? I don't know. I'm guessing O'Reilly was the prime mover here. In any case: Of course none of this would excuse Fowler talking shit.

I don't own a TV, I'm not in the US, and I've practically never watched anything on Fox, just the odd snippet, so I have a question: In the course of Fowler's TV appearances since 2007, has he ever actually made any other statements he's been forced to retract because of factual inaccuracies?

[SonicG]

I mentioned this lesbian gang thing earlier in this thread...
Searching for wheeler+ fox news pre-2017 shows a lot of typical FOX news BS:

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Rod+ ... F2017&tbm=
Fox’s Rod Wheeler Suggests Dallas Shootings Are A Reason To Vote For Donald Trump
Fox's Rod Wheeler: Beyonce's Superbowl Performance "Really Gave The Middle Finger To Police Officers"
Wheeler: "Why Do We Have To Be Subjected To Her Political Agenda?"

‘There is no police brutality in America’: Fox sheriff blows up at ‘subhuman creeps’ in Black Lives Matter (Haven't watched the vid to see what Wheeler says but I doubt he repudiates David Clarke...Maybe they told Wheeler he would get a spot at Homeland Security (sic) also if he pumped the Rich story...)

[Iamwhomiam]

The thought crossed my mind of Wheeler being a contract killer. Quite the accomplishment to be hired to investigate one of his own murders, if that was true.

I find it incredible that some sympathize with a DC drug-using cop who arrested people for using drugs being fired because he used drugs.

[PufPuf93]

The thought crossed my mind of Wheeler being a contract killer. Quite the accomplishment to be hired to investigate one of his own murders, if that was true.

I find it incredible that some sympathize with a DC drug-using cop who arrested people for using drugs being fired because he used drugs.

That is a pretty far stretch to entertain the thought that Wheeler is a contract killer and even more so the killer of Seth Rich.

Also did Wheeler use drugs other than pot? I thought he blood tested hot for pot (and was fired for insubordination not for pot). There is a huge difference between pot and crack or heroin and society is slowly adjusting to the fact that pot is no more harmful than alcohol or tobacco. Pot use stays in the body so despite Wheeler having a hot blood test, Wheeler may have been an occasional or an incidental user and not a wake and bake loady. To be a young police detective says something about the man. Pot too often has been used to categorize and target individuals or groups of less favored status. I am not impressed that Wheeler was a Fox News contributor and Trump supporter. This is suspicious as to his agenda.

The important question is whether or not Seth Rich leaked the DNC materials and was the source to WikiLeaks rather than the now claimed Russian hack. Seth Rich as the leak and source makes a difference and it is immaterial (except to those that knew and cared about him and Seth Rich himself) whether Rich was murdered or not and by whom.

[Cordelia]

This doesn't give you serious doubts about Wheeler??

In his apology Wheeler states, "During the O’Reilly Factor segment on June 21st, while engaged in a discussion on Lesbian gangs, I inadvertently stated that gang members carry pistols that are painted pink and call themselves the "Pink Pistol Packing Group." I was not referring to the gay rights group "Pink Pistols" who advocates for the lawful rights of gays to carry weapons for protection. Further, I mentioned that there are "over 150 of these gangs" in the greater Washington DC area. What I actually meant is that there are over 150 gangs in the Washington DC area, some of which are in fact lesbian gangs. Lastly, I mentioned in the segment that there is this "national epidemic" of lesbian gangs. A better choice of words would have been to say that there is a growing concern nationally, and especially in major urban areas, of increased gang activity, which includes some lesbian gang activity. I apologize for any misunderstanding this may have caused."
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/bill- ... report-on-

This is his ridiculous walk-back on claiming 150 lesbian gangs...to "some lesbian gang activity"...So I suppose he tried to spin his ridiculous TV appearance into a "Private Investigator" biz?

I remember this being posted SonicG; I think I must have unconsciously deleted it from my consciousness . His claim (and re-claim) is pretty ridiculous.


From National Criminal Justice Reference Service (I can’t access this article), but evidently it acknowledges and addresses widespread substance abuse in the police force:

Police officers' stress reactions to various threatening and disturbing events can lead to psychologically, cognitively, and physically debilitating conditions that impair occupational performance. Alcohol and other drug abuse are maladaptive responses to stress and trauma, and such substance abuse is widespread among police officers. Researchers have identified four occupational demands that can trigger alcohol abuse by police officers: reacting unemotionally to the daily stresses of the job (depersonalization), authoritarian demands from police managers, organizational protection of officers from criticism, and daily awareness of the dangers of the job. Substance abuse compounds the debilitating effects of occupational stress and impacts not only job performance but also an officer's family life. Intervention to prevent this downward spiral is the responsibility of law enforcement agencies. Such intervention begins with instructing officers to expect and recognize stress reactions and to use constructive stress-management techniques. Further, agencies should provide mechanisms and services such as professional and peer counseling, trauma teams, and instruction in the dangers of substance abuse. 28 notes


https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/ ... ?ID=207385

(For several months in the mid 70's, I joined a group of friends on weekends to smoke weed. Frequently joining us was the host's roommate, who was a cop, along w/ the cop's girlfriend, a call-girl. Sometimes her pager would summon her to a job and sometimes he'd leave the party to work his night shift. So I just assume using both legal & illegal substances is common for police.)

[Cordelia]

The thought crossed my mind of Wheeler being a contract killer. Quite the accomplishment to be hired to investigate one of his own murders, if that was true.

I find it incredible that some sympathize with a DC drug-using cop who arrested people for using drugs being fired because he used drugs.

I find this an intriguing idea. I don't mean Wheeler himself, but a cop or ex-cop contracting as a killer, and it's not w/o precedence. Yeah, I know the article below is from L.A.30 years ago, but Washington's homicide department, too, has been exposed for heavy corruption. (Also a cop's already been trained, and knows the ins-and-outs of the department, investigative procedures, protocol,etc...) :

Former L.A. Police Detective Convicted as Killer for Hire

October 12, 1988

A former Los Angeles police detective was convicted of first-degree murder Tuesday for the contract killing of a Northridge businessman whose body has never been found.

Richard Herman Ford, 48, of Northridge was convicted by a Van Nuys Superior Court jury of killing businessman Thomas Weed five years ago. Ford was paid $20,000 by Weed's former wife, who testified at the trial that she wanted Weed killed because she believed he was stealing money from, and trying to gain control of, an allergy business the couple owned in Northridge.

The jury deliberated seven days before convicting Ford of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He faces a possible death sentence because the case involved the special circumstance of killing for monetary gain.

Ford's alleged partner in the crime, former Los Angeles Police Officer Robert Anthony Von Villas, is on trial before a separate jury. Both men were assigned to the department's Devonshire Division at the time of their arrests on July 7, 1983. Authorities said they committed a series of crimes in their off-duty hours.

http://articles.latimes.com/1988-10-12/ ... -detective

[Iamwhomiam]

PufPuf, Cordelia, It was a wild thought and would make a great plot twist if this were a fantasy. It has some credence in that, as you state and document, there are precedents.

I just get a bad vibe off the guy.

Regarding Wheeler's drug test - it was a urinalysis. A hair follicle test would have been better to judge what other drugs he might have been taking over the past several months. (I think that's why so many cops choose to go bald!)

Whys does someone of questionable character like Wheeler always play such roles in serious inquiries into notable and questionable murders? (rhetorical)

[km artlu]

Why does someone of questionable character like Wheeler always play such roles in serious inquiries into notable and questionable murders? (rhetorical)

Rhetorical or not, I think this has relevance:

I came upon the following definitions by someone named Bruce Rux.
* Misinfo - ridiculous information from a credible source.
* Disinfo - credible information from a ridiculous source.

Loosely speaking, Wheeler seems to have a mix of both going on.

Those definitions make a revealing lens to view what cascades forth from media these days. One of the most effective means of burying facts is to have a ridiculous person proclaim them far and wide.

[PufPuf93]

I agree with km artlu.

The media is full of such questionable sources and there is a purpose; specifically to mis-direct and confuse.

I want to know if Seth Rich was the source of the leak to WikiLeaks.