Over the next 2 1/2 years, the Internet Research Agency, the group that conducted Russian intelligence’s social media misinformation operation during the 2016 election, promoted the conspiracy theories under accounts purporting to be American citizens or organizations, according to Yahoo.
The story gained traction among conservative outlets following WikiLeaks's release of hacked Democratic emails, hacks which U.S. intelligence believe were also conducted by Moscow.
As late as 2017, then-White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon reportedly texted a “60 Minutes” producer to say Rich’s death was "a contract kill, obviously," claiming that Rich was a supporter of Clinton's primary rival, Sen.
Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Fox News’s
Sean Hannity also frequently promoted the conspiracy theory in 2017. Fox eventually retracted a report that Rich had been in contact with WikiLeaks after one of its main sources backtracked on his claims.
Sines said she used her security clearance to obtain copies of two SVR intelligence reports about the Rich case and later wrote a memo about Russian intelligence’s role and briefed former special counsel
Robert Mueller’s prosecutors on the findings.
“It’s not rocket science before you add it up and you go, ‘Oh, if Seth is the leaker to WikiLeaks — it doesn’t have anything to do with the Russians.' So of course Russia’s interest in doing this is incredibly transparent,” she told Yahoo.
thehill.com
