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After a surge in conspiracy theories about the murder last summer of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, a legal investigative unit led by conspiracy theorist Jack Burkman is filing a freedom of information request to see police records connected to the death.

The Profiling Project, headed by the D.C.-based lobbyist and staffed with some George Washington University law students, is requesting access to surveillance video taken near the shooting, the medical examiner’s report on Rich’s autopsy and the police department’s ballistics report.

Burkman has spread the idea that Rich was murdered as part of a Russian coverup over interference in the American presidential election – charges of a similar nature have been given primetime play by Fox News host Sean Hannity.

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He has also offered a $105,000 reward for information leading to the solving of the murder, and planned to stage a reenactment of the killing against the wishes of the Rich family, which briefly collaborated with him.

Rich’s parents have said they still have faith in the D.C. police department’s investigation into the death, which remains unsolved. “The family remains completely confident in the Metropolitan Police Department’s handling of the case,” a spokesman for the family told the Washington Post.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

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