Florida Ex-Cop Turned Whistleblower Says Seth Rich Gave Him DNC Files
Home2018November24Florida Ex-Cop Turned Whistleblower Says Seth Rich Gave Him DNC Files
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John Mark Dougan is well-known among Florida law enforcement and media. During his six year stent as a deputy in West Palm Beach, he claims to have witnessed widespread corruption and cover-ups in the department headed by Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. His claims allege everything from racism to pedophilia to intentional killings of suspects.
After voicing his concerns to superiors, Dougan said he became the target of relentless harassment and unfounded investigations. It was in this atmosphere that he resigned his position and founded a website called PBSO Talk where others within the Palm Beach County law enforcement and government community could anonymously share their personal stories and blow the whistle on corruption they’d witnessed.
This website attracted the attention of local media, which allegedly didn’t set well with Palm Beach County authorities, and especially Sheriff Bradshaw. At one point, he apparently offered to purchase Dougan’s website for more than $75,000. Dougan says he declined the offer because he believed the funds would originate from taxpayer money.
John Dougan’s Palm Beach story was about to come to an end. A Russian PBSO Talk user going by the handle “BadVolf” posted what he claimed were documents hacked from official servers in Palm Beach County in retaliation for the harassment inflicted on his American friend. Local media reported on these documents, which revealed personal identifying records of officials.
Here’s where the story gets even more interesting. In written testimony to INV1105, an anonymous researcher, John Dougan says toward the end of February or early March, 2016 he began chatting with someone who contacted him claiming to be in possession of documents obtained from the Democratic National Committee, a place where the unknown entity claimed to work.
Dougan says he was skeptical at first because he often receives similar claims which usually turn out to be nothing. The two continued their chat on the Wickr app, where Dougan says the individual sent him an initial cache of DNC files.
The next day after allegedly receiving these files, Dougan’s West Palm Beach home was raided by an army of FBI agents and local officials. He estimates roughly 45 agents in tactical gear armed with a search warrant seized computers, servers, tablets, cell phones, and portable storage devices. He says he doesn’t even know for sure why they raided his home, but suspects either federal agents were monitoring his Wickr communications, or local officials suspected him of being the mastermind behind the recent hacks of Palm Beach County servers.
The day after the raid, Dougan says he went to Enterprise Rent-a-Car where he rented a vehicle in the name of an aunt, Patricia Dougan. He says he drove straight to Washington, D.C. and met the mysterious DNC staffer at a school near the contact’s home. The staffer allegedly provided Dougan with another cache of DNC documents, this time on a USB storage device. He says then he drove straight back to Florida.
John Dougan says he later recognized the DNC employee as Seth Rich during news reports of the staffer’s untimely death. He says he had previously known him only by his alias during chats.
In the days following the meeting, Dougan says he was being surveiled by law enforcement. Fearing being arrested under false charges, he says he drove to Canada and caught a flight to Moscow, Russia, a place he’d been several times on business trips in previous years.