Defied court order? Seth Rich attorney blasts FBI for ‘9-year coverup,’ says bureau lied, buried evidence

A lawyer closely tied to the long-running legal battle over the mysterious death of Seth Rich is accusing the federal government of an extraordinary, years-long coverup, one that he says mirrors the FBI’s handling of other politically explosive cases and exposes systemic corruption at the highest levels of federal law enforcement.

Ty Clevenger, an attorney who has spent years litigating Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) cases related to Seth Rich, issued a blistering public statement this week alleging that the FBI deliberately concealed records, lied to federal courts, and is now openly defying a court order to produce documents related to Rich’s case.

Clevenger’s remarks come amid renewed scrutiny of the FBI following revelations that the bureau effectively “buried” the January 6 pipe bomber investigation for years.

According to Clevenger, the FBI has been caught repeatedly lying to federal courts during eight years of FOIA litigation, hiding and misrepresenting records related to Seth Rich “on a massive scale.”

Even more alarming, Clevenger claims the FBI is currently defying a court order to turn over records, prompting a pending motion to hold the bureau in contempt of court.

Clevenger also blasted Republican lawmakers for their silence over the past nine years, naming names.

He pointed out that Rep. Thomas Massie has aggressively pursued the Epstein files but never publicly pressed on Seth Rich. Rep. Barry Loudermilk has led investigations into January 6 but, according to Clevenger, has ignored the Rich case entirely.

He then rattled off a list of prominent Republicans—Andy Biggs, Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Chuck Grassley, Tim Burchett, and James Comer—asking whether any of them are even aware of what he calls an “ongoing FBI coverup.”

Read his statement below:

“In re Seth Rich… We now know that the FBI buried the J6 pipe bomber case for five years. Is it really so hard to believe that the FBI would bury the Seth Rich case for nine years?

And given recent revelations about massive fraud in the 2020 election in Georgia (media collusion, bad-faith lawsuits, and bogus prosecutions of anyone who dared to ask questions), is it really so hard to believe that the same tactics were used to silence those who questioned the Seth Rich narrative?

In eight years of FOIA litigation, we’ve repeatedly caught the FBI lying to the court and hiding records about Seth Rich — on a massive scale.

FBI Director Kash Patel’s FBI is currently defying a court order to produce records. (We have a pending motion to hold the FBI in contempt of court.)

I’ve made sure that Patel is personally aware of the issue, but he says he does not want to get involved in the Seth Rich matter. Why not?

I’d argue that Seth’s case is far more significant than the pipe bomber because it will likely show that the FBI has known since September 2016 that Seth — and not Russian “hackers” — was the source of the DNC emails published by WikiLeaks.

I suspect “grand conspiracy” indictments will be coming out of the Southern District of Florida in January or February (former Obama CIA Director John Brennan acknowledged today that he is a target of the Florida grand jury), so maybe Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi want to keep the Seth Rich documents under wraps until the indictments are made public.

Is the government on the verge of acknowledging that Seth was the source rather than the Russians? (I’m really trying to give them the benefit of the doubt here.)

Meanwhile, where have GOP representatives and senators been for the last nine years?
Representative Thomas Massie has been all over the Epstein files, but never asked any questions about Seth.
Representative Barry Loudermilk has been all over January 6, but never asked any questions about Seth.

Are Representatives Andy Biggs, Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Senator Chuck Grassley, Representative Tim Burchett, Representative James Comer, et al., even aware of the ongoing FBI cover-up?

In re Seth Rich… We now know that @FBI buried the J6 pipe bomber case for five years. Is it really so hard to believe that the FBI would bury the Seth Rich case for nine years?

And given recent revelations about massive fraud in the 2020 election in Georgia (media collusion,…

— Ty Clevenger (@Ty_Clevenger) December 23, 2025