A longtime GOP operative is asking Congress to investigate whether or not Russia is behind the murder of a young Democratic National Committee staffer.

Seth Rich, 27, was fatally shot in the back while walking home alone in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of D.C. in the early hours of July 10 last year. At the time of his death, he was working as a data analyst for the DNC.

Eight months on, there are no leads and no suspects in the homicide investigation. DC police have said nothing was stolen from Rich and that the murder was a botched robbery.

Now, GOP lobbyist and DC lawyer Jack Burkman has formally appealed to Congress to investigate following new evidence he says he's obtained that Russia may be behind Rich's murder.

Seth Rich, 27, was fatally shot in the back while walking home alone in D.C. in the early hours of July 10 last year. At the time of his death, he was working as a data analyst for the DNC

GOP lobbyist and D.C. lawyer Jack Burkman (left) has appealed to Congress to investigate following new evidence that Russia may be behind Rich's murder. Right, billboards go up in the Bloomingdale neighborhood highlighting Rich's murder, organized by Burkman

In an exclusive interview, Burkman told DailyMail.com, that when he first came across the murder in a newspaper, it struck him as 'very, very odd'.

He said: 'Nothing was taken from Seth – not his wallet, gold chain, credit cards or a sizeable amount of cash. So you know there's no robbery gone awry. Then the question becomes, what was it?

'Now I think we have our first big news in the case – we have leads and evidence of Russian involvement.'

While Burkman is reluctant to elaborate, he revealed he was recently contacted about the investigation by a man claiming to be a former U.S. intelligence officer. The source is an older man, 65-70 years old, who claims to have been a contractor in Iraq in the 1970s, he revealed.

'The source has claimed that it [the murder] was arranged by the Russian government at a very high level,' Burkman said.

'He didn't specify who or how. He just said he had knowledge it was arranged by the Russian government and stressed that it was at a high level.'

He added: 'I've met this person and he seems very credible. We're now investigating the allegations he has made.'

Burkman believes the source will cooperate with the investigation. He is wary about revealing too much and has hired a private security firm to protect his family.

'These days we all know what the Russian government is like and because I'm concerned with my safety and my family's safety, I have to be careful about what I put on the record,' he said.

Burkman believes that Rich was killed after discovering Russian operatives had hacked the DNC through his work on a 'highly important voter registration program'.

Last week, Burkman sent letters to Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Michael McCaul, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, formally asking them to launch an investigation

Burkman's investigation points to a Russia connection to the murder, asserting that Rich was murdered after discovering Russian operatives had hacked the DNC

Less than two weeks after Rich's murder, WikiLeaks published thousands of hacked DNC emails.

Weeks after Rich's murder, WikiLeaks offered $20,000 to help solve the case but WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange insisted that Russia had nothing to do with the leak.

However the U.S. intelligence community later concluded that Russian operatives were behind the hack and had further meddled in the U.S. elections.

Burkman is working pro bono on the investigation with the blessing of the Rich family, even though Rich's parents – Joel and Mary Rich – have said publicly that they support the D.C. police's theory that their son's murder was a robbery gone wrong.

Burkman has donated a $105,000 reward to find Rich's killer.

When added to earlier donations - $25,000 from DC police and $20,000 from WikiLeaks – the reward is the largest ever offered to solve a murder in D.C. history.

Although Burkman has no personal connection to the Rich family, he felt compelled to help.

'Seth was tragically killed before I ever got a chance to meet him,' Burkman said. 'We had no professional connection – only the kinship that bonds all of us who are political operatives. Seth and I are on different sides of the aisle - he was a Democrat, I'm a Republican - but I wanted to help.

'I have young Republicans and Democrats that work for me and what happened to Seth could have happened to any one of us.'

Burkman, who attended Georgetown Law School and now has his own firm, hired private investigators to work on the case. He also makes appeals for information on his syndicated radio talk show.

Last week, Burkman sent letters to Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Michael McCaul, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, formally asking them to launch an investigation.

'We're calling on Congress to investigate the Seth Rich murder with a specific accent on the Russian involvement. We need Congress's help,' he said.

Rich was on the phone to his girlfriend (above with Rich) at the time of his murder

Burkman donated $105,000 of his own money to the reward for information about Rich's killer. Above, Rich's mother, Mary, giving a press conference and showing the DC police's bounty

'The allegation is that Seth had discovered what the Russians were doing and that the Russians retaliated because of that discovery.

'Seth was in charge of all the tech guys and a whole technical aspect of voting at the DNC. He was the avant-garde of tech.

'It's very logical and very likely that if anyone would have discovered this [Russian hack] – Seth would have.'

Over the last six months, Burkman has been in touch with the DNC, including former chairwoman Donna Brazile. 'We have found the DNC to be very helpful,' he said.

In an interview with Politico published today, Brazile said she was 'scared' when she learned from the FBI about Russia's role in the extensive hack of the DNC.

On July 22, 2016, thousands of DNC emails were released by WikiLeaks, dealing a damaging blow to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

A month earlier, the Washington Post reported that Russian government hackers breached the DNC computer network.

Rich was found lying on the street on the southwest corner of Flagler Place and W Street Northwest (above) with gun shot wounds to his back at 4:19 am

'I believe that Seth happened upon their hacking,' Burkman said. 'And what's logical about that are two things: the timeline and the fact that he would have been the one to find it.'

Burkman's investigation is still working to find further digital evidence that Rich could have been a Russian target but believes that it is unlikely that the staffer would have left an email trail. He said that the police, his investigators and Rich's family have all searched his laptop for clues.

Burkman said: 'Seth was too smart to have ever put anything like this in an email.

'He was a very discreet, smart young man and my guess is if he found out about it [Russian hacking], he would have verbally told someone in the command [of the DNC].

'We know he was in touch with the high command of the campaign on a regular basis. And the week after he died, he had been scheduled to join the Clinton campaign in Brooklyn.'

In the coming weeks, Burkman said his team would be digging deeper for digital evidence – on other computers and devices and possibly with other people.

SETH RICH TIMELINE

June 14, 2016: The Democratic National Committee database is compromised by Russian government hackers, U.S. security sources tell the Washington Post. A Kremlin spokesman rules out Russian involvement to Reuters. June 15, 2016: Solo, anonymous hacker ‘Guccifer 2.0’ takes credit for hacking the DNC database, saying it was ‘very easy’ on his website. July 10, 2016: DNC tech staffer Seth Rich, 27, is killed on a DC street after being shot twice in the back in the early hours of the morning. DC police say he is the victim of a botched robbery and offer $25,000 to help catch his killer. July 22, 2016: Thousands of DNC emails released by WikiLeaks – a damaging blow to the Democrats’ presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton. July 24, 2016: Fallout from the DNC hack continues as chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigns. August 9, 2016: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange floats the idea that Rich was an informant for his organization, telling a Dutch TV show: ‘Whistle blowers often take very significant efforts to bring us material and often at very significant risks. There’s a 27-year-old who works for the DNC and who was shot in the back, murdered, just a few weeks ago, for unknown reasons as he was walking down the streets in Washington.’ WikiLeaks offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in Rich's murder but later clarifies in a Twitter post that they always protect the anonymity of their sources. September, 2016: GOP lobbyist Jack Burkman adds $100,000 donation to the reward money to catch Rich’s killer – making it the largest ever reward to solve a murder case in DC history. December, 2016: The U.S. intelligence community says that Russia was behind the hack of the DNC emails and meddled in the U.S. presidential elections. December, 2016: Assange denies that the Russian government was involved in providing the hacked DNC emails that WikiLeaks received and published during the election. February, 2017: Billboards are posted in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of DC where Rich was killed, encouraging those with information to come forward. Nine months on, police have announced no suspects or leads in the investigation. Advertisement

'We will continue our search in other areas and hopefully we will find something which will shed light on this,' he said.

Burkman said that he hasn't taken new evidence to the Metropolitan Police Department in DC and did not tell them about his request for a Congressional inquiry.

'For any metro police force, there are thousands of murders and many of them go unsolved,' Burkman said.

'I think they've about wrapped up their part in this. This is now something for Congress – it's a political issue, it's a federal issue. This has to go to the top level.

'It's very clear to any logical observer of American politics that Putin is involved in many facets of American life and he's not involved in a good way.

'These are big steps to take but I felt it was my duty to the family and to my country to investigate this.'

Burkman said that he has not considered the possibility that Rich was working for Russia or for WikiLeaks and rubbished the claim.

'I doubt it sincerely because Seth was a loyal Democrat, a loyal patriot and loyal American. He loved Hillary Clinton. I don't think at any time he was ever working for anybody but the DNC,' he said.

'I think Seth was on the other side – that's why [Russia] likely did what they did.'

Weeks after Rich was murdered, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange muddied the waters by alluding to the DNC staffer in connection to the risks taken by whistleblowers and the DNC email hack.

WikiLeaks later clarified by tweeting their 'original and only statement' on Rich's murder.

Burkman said that neither he nor the Rich family had been in contact with Julian Assange.

Joel Rich said last month that he did not believe that his son was behind the DNC email hack and would not have shared emails with WikiLeaks.

'Anyone who knew Seth knew that wasn't the way he would have handled the problem,' Rich's father, Joel Rich, told Fox News. 'He would not go outside the system.'

He called Assange's comments 'bizarre', and says he, like the police, believes that his son's death was the result of a robbery gone wrong.

Burkman said that the Rich family were aware of the letters he was sending to Congress Above, Burkman shakes hands with a resident as he canvasses the Bloomingdale neighborhood in January

Burkman first spoke with Seth's father and mother, Mary Rich, in September and met them in November in DC.

'It's so hard for them. I've never seen people with greater strength, courage and fortitude, to be able to come to Washington to fight to get to the truth. I don't think I've ever admired people more than I admire them,' he said.

Burkman has only spoken once to Rich's girlfriend, who he was on the phone with at the time he was murdered.

'She's taking it very, very hard,' he said. 'I don't think she wants to talk about it too much.'

Burkman said that the Rich family were aware of the letters he was sending to Congress but he was unclear whether they gave credence to his belief that Russia played a role in their son's death.

CAN YOU HELP FIND SETH RICH'S KiLLER? If you know who killed Seth Rich, please contact the Metropolitan Police Department. Anonymous Tips: (202) 727-9099 or Text 50411 Command Info Center: (202) 727-9099 Advertisement

'I don't know – my job is really to follow the evidence wherever it leads,' he said.

'The family and I are certainly in agreement against the notion that Hillary Clinton or the Democrats were involved. We don't want that kind of talk and we don't believe in anything like that.'

He added: 'The only goal I have is to get to the bottom of who killed Seth.

'There's a mother and father grieving and I certainly want to get this over with before there's any security threats to me and my family.

'It's my job to bring closure to the family as quickly as we can.'

Burkman made a direct appeal to the killer of Seth Rich or anyone with information on his murder.

'I encourage everyone to come forth with any information. Come to me – I give out my cell phone number publicly – call me and let me know.'

Today, bus depot billboards will go up in the Bloomingdale neighborhood highlighting Rich's murder and larger billboards will be added in the coming weeks.

For more information, visit www.whokilledseth.com.