A GOP researcher who admitted to seeking the help of Russian hackers in exposing Hillary Clinton was found dead in May, not long after an interview exposed he was seeking emails deleted from Clinton’s private email server. The story was investigating his possible ties to President Trump and to Michael Flynn, a top adviser to Trump at the time.
When I spoke to Peter Smith I had no indication that he was ill or planning to take his own life.
— Shane Harris (@shaneharris) July 13, 2017
A Wall Street Journal article published last month reveals the story of the interviews that begin in May with GOP supporter and financier Peter W. Smith. He was found dead days later. Only now is the issue getting attention.
There are disputes about how exactly the 81-year-old died. Reports indicate police found him in what looks to be a suicide. Others are skeptical. He left a note stating that he took his life for health reasons and the note clearly states “NO FOUL PLAY WHATSOEVER.” If one is to believe the suicide note of a man who took his own life because his insurance policy ran out or because he had bad health, then that would wipe away any other implications.
You don’t need to be a prosecutor to know that someone writing NO FOUL PLAY WHATSOEVER in connection with a death seems awfully suspicious.
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) July 14, 2017
A hotel worker reported Smith told him he would check out the next day. That next day he was found dead. The death was believed to be by asphyxiation, and helium tanks were found in the room. But police didn’t believe the death was not a suicide, so many details were not investigated. Hotel workers who discovered the body had differing recollections from information taken from police reports.
