“OUR TEAM IS ROLLING”
by Sharon Rondeau
(Mar. 26, 2018) — On Monday morning, Matt Couch, founder of America First Media Group, tweeted a broadcast from March 14, 2018 in which he announced that his organization’s attorney, Ty Clevenger, filed a lawsuit in federal court against the FBI and its parent agency, the U.S. Justice Department, for withholding documents in the case of the 2016 murder of 27-year-old DNC Data Director Seth Rich.
The documents had been requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) but “not a single record has been produced,” according to a statement Couch read from Clevenger.
The America First article announcing the lawsuit is here: https://af-mg.com/2018/03/14/breaking-america-first-medias-attorney-ty-clevenger-files-federal-lawsuit-against-fbi-and-doj-seeking-records-on-seth-rich-case/
Clevenger is also seeking all “communications with members of Congress regarding Seth Rich, Julian Assange, and Kim Dotcom, among others,” in the possession of the National Security Agency (NSA).
In the broadcast, Couch referenced, reading from his attorney’s statement, a lawsuit filed by Rich’s family approximately two weeks ago against the Fox News Channel for allegedly publishing a false report about their son’s having been involved in providing emails to WikiLeaks from the DNC.
Seth Rich was shot on the morning of July 10, 2016 in what the DC Metro Police have called a “botched robbery attempt.” However, his valuables were left on his person, and his assailant(s) remain at large.
Clevenger stated that he believes the lawsuit against Fox is “a serious tactical error. All of the defendants now have the legal right to subpoena documents and witnesses, and you can be sure they will use that power aggressively.”
Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has claimed that he was “involved” in an operation in which Rich allegedly provided the thousands of emails to WikiLeaks, which began releasing them just before the DNC’s nominating convention was to open and 12 days after Rich was murdered.
The emails revealed that the DNC had favored Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primaries.
On March 4, Couch tweeted in response to Dotcom’s claim, “The signs are all there America.” [sic]
WikiLeaks was founded by Julian Assange, who is reportedly wanted for extradition to the U.S. on a charge of “spying” connected to the procuring of secret U.S.-government documents, a claim Assange denies.
Dotcom, too, is wanted by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly committing copyright infringement and money laundering by establishing his now-defunct Megaupload website, which allowed users to upload various types of files.
Dotcom has expressed support for both Couch’s work and that of Assange.
According to his Twitter feed, Couch and a number of his associates are currently en route to Washington, DC to continue AFMG’s ongoing investigation into Rich’s death.
The lawsuit states that Clevenger filed a FOIA request on September 1, 2017 for “all records and correspondence pertaining to Seth Conrad Rich (DOB: January 3, 1989), who was murdered in the District of Columbia on or about July 10, 2016. This request includes, but is not limited to, any records or correspondence resulting from any investigation of his murder.”
Clevenger is representing himself in the suit.
In a blog post on March 14, Clevenger announced that he has launched “The Transparency Project,” whose goal is to “fight political corruption, particularly in the judiciary and the legal profession.”
On Monday morning, Couch provided an update on his travels:
