Attorney Ty Clevenger Drops Bombshell — FBI Hid Hundreds of Seth Rich Documents in Previously Hidden SCIF Room at Headquarters, Mixed With Burn Bags Intended for Destruction!

Seth Rich (LinkedIn) The corrupt Deep State is crumbling, and the truth they desperately tried to burn is finally clawing its way to the light.

Attorney Ty Clevenger, who has spent nearly a decade battling the FBI and DOJ for transparency in the Seth Rich case, revealed a stunning new development on X.

SETH RICH UPDATE: Today an attorney for the government told me that I would soon be getting confirmation that several hundred pages of documents related to Seth Rich were found in a previously-hidden room at FBI headquarters. You may recall that on July 30, 2025, Fox News Digital reported that newly-installed FBI Director Kash Patel and his leadership team had located an unmapped / sealed area within the J. Edgar Hoover Building’s SCIF.

Last year’s Fox report described “burn bags” that contained thousands of pages of classified files intended for destruction, and those files were linked back to the 2016 “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation. Now it appears the Seth Rich records were among the files designated for destruction.

Mind you, I don’t have anything in hand yet. I don’t even know whether the FBI will agree to release a single page of what it found. Nonetheless, any confirmation that the files were in the secret SCIF raises a lot of questions. At the very least, some very high-level people had something to hide.

The FBI originally told me in 2017 that it had no records whatsoever about Seth Rich because it was not involved in the investigation of his death. We were told he died in a “botched robbery” and only the local police were investigating it.

Since that time, the FBI has gradually admitted to possession of several thousand pages of documents about Seth, his work laptop, an image of his personal laptop, and another DVD. Nonetheless, on June 15, 2026, I had to file yet another motion (http://lawflog.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026.06.15-Plaintiff-MSJ-stamped.pdf) explaining how the FBI is withholding records in violation of court orders.

If the FBI is still fighting transparency so hard on other fronts (and it is), then why would it acknowledge that records about Seth had been hidden in the SCIF? I don’t know. Maybe Joe DiGenova’s grand jury investigation in Miami is putting some heat on the players in DC?

I can tell you this much for sure: nobody on Capitol Hill has been willing to touch this subject with a ten-foot pole. The murder of Seth Rich – and the resulting cover-up – is as radioactive as any topic I’ve ever seen. I hope that changes soon, and I’ll post updates as soon as I know more.

This is the same FBI that originally told Clevenger back in 2017 it had zero records on Seth Rich because the bureau “was not involved” in the investigation of his death. They claimed it was nothing more than a “botched robbery” handled solely by local D.C. police.

Over the years, through relentless FOIA litigation and court pressure, the FBI has been forced to admit it actually possesses thousands of pages of Seth Rich documents, including his work laptop, an image of his personal laptop, and a DVD. Yet they continue to fight tooth and nail to keep the full truth hidden.

In April 2025, Clevenger filed a motion to hold the FBI in contempt of court for systematically violating orders to produce Seth Rich records.

In December 2025, Clevenger blasted the FBI for a “Nine-Year Coverup”, accusing the bureau of lying to courts and burying evidence. As recently as February 2026, even under Director Kash Patel, the FBI was still defying court orders to turn over the documents.

On June 15, 2026, Clevenger had to file yet another motion laying out how the FBI continues to withhold records in violation of court orders.

Now we learn that Seth Rich records were apparently stashed in the same secret, unmapped SCIF room where burn bags full of Crossfire Hurricane files were hidden away for destruction.

The Biden era FBI “said” they initially withheld and limited the release of documents regarding former Democratic National Committee (DNC) staffer Seth Rich based on legal arguments, national security exemptions, and ongoing foreign intelligence investigations.

While critics and conspiracy theorists argued that the bureau was actively hiding the documents to cover up alternate theories regarding the 2016 DNC email leaks, the FBI asserted a series of standardized legal justifications under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).The primary reasons the FBI initially withheld these materials include:

1. Protection of Family Privacy (Exemptions 6 and 7(C))The FBI argued in federal court that Seth Rich’s surviving family members possessed a profound privacy interest. The bureau asserted that releasing the intimate contents of Rich’s personal laptop and personal records to the public would cause unneeded trauma and violate the family’s privacy. They maintained that this privacy interest heavily outweighed any public interest in disclosure.

2. Ongoing Law Enforcement and Foreign Fugitive Status (Exemption 7(A))The FBI withheld specific files—including a letter from a third party and digital forensic chain-of-custody forms—under Exemption 7(A). Because U.S. intelligence agencies and the Mueller Report concluded that Russian state hackers (and not Seth Rich) stole the DNC emails, the related files remained tied to active counterintelligence operations. The FBI successfully argued to the court that releasing details prematurely would give indicted Russian nationals who remain fugitives a “unique advantage” regarding U.S. investigative methods.

3. National Security and Investigative Privileges (Exemptions 1, 3, and 5)In the course of FOIA litigation, the FBI also applied exemptions meant to protect classified national security information (Exemption 1) and details protected by other federal withholding statutes (Exemption 3).

Chronology of Bureau Reversals and Discrepancies:

The perception that the FBI was deliberately hiding information was amplified by shifts in the bureau’s public and legal positions:

Initial “No Records” Claims: In 2017, the FBI responded to initial FOIA requests by stating it had no responsive records on Seth Rich.Discovery of Documents: Over the following years, subsequent lawsuits forced the bureau to acknowledge it actually possessed more than 20,000 potentially responsive pages of records, as well as digital images of Rich’s personal and work laptops.

Court-Ordered Disclosures: U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant systematically rejected the FBI’s blanket privacy claims regarding the personal laptop. The court ruled that the government failed to prove a privacy standard high enough to completely suppress the laptop data, leading to orders compelling the FBI to process the information for release.

Local law enforcement (the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department) maintains that Seth Rich’s 2016 death was the result of a botched armed robbery.

Federal courts have ruled that the FBI must continue to process and systematically turn over its related internal records under FOIA guidelines.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.