WASHINGTON – CNN – the news network that was famously dubbed "fake news" by President Trump – attacked a Republican lawmaker who called for a federal investigation of the unsolved murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich and any possible role he may have had in the leaking of Democratic National Committee emails during the 2016 election.

Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, told CNN Wednesday: "My fear is our constant focusing on the Russians is deflecting away from some other things that we need to be investigating. There's still some question as to whether the intrusion of the DNC server was an insider job or whether or not it was the Russians."

CNN reporters quickly cut the congressman off.

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"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, the 'insider job' – what are you referring to here?" asked CNN's John Berman.

"There's stuff circulating on the Internet. My question is, why ..." the congressman continued, but he was again cut off by Berman.

"What's circulating on the Internet that you think is worthy of a congressional investigation? Because the D.C. police are investigating this, and so far they haven't said there's anything there" to suggest any DNC-link to Rich's murder, Berman demanded.

The fourth-term congressman noted that the DNC denied the FBI's "multiple requests" to examine the hacked computers. Instead, the DNC hired a third party organization, CrowdStrike, to perform an analysis.

"We're relying only on the report of somebody that the DNC contracted to examine their computer rather than having federal officials [examine them]," Farenthold told CNN. "To me, we need to let the feds look at it."

JUST NOW @farenthold on @CNN suggests the DNC hack was an “insider job," sources “stuff circulating on the internet” https://t.co/97zytNWHVR — Haley Draznin (@haleydraz) May 24, 2017

As WND reported, Rich was murdered July 10, 2016, near his affluent neighborhood in Washington, D.C. He was shot in the back with a handgun at 4:18 a.m. while he walked home, and nothing was taken from him. He was transported to a local hospital and was pronounced dead at 5:57 a.m. On July 22, just 12 days after Rich's death and days before the Democratic Party Convention in Philadelphia, WikiLeaks released 20,000 emails from DNC officials.

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Some have speculated that Rich was the source who provided the DNC emails to WikiLeaks. So far, there appear to be far more questions than answers surrounding Rich's mysterious murder.

One private investigator told WND he has reason to believe the Metropolitan Police Department is hiding key evidence from the public and acting in collusion with the Washington, D.C., mayor to make the investigation go away. Another private investigator probing the case claimed former DNC interim chairwoman Donna Brazile contacted police and Rich's family, demanding to know why the detective was "snooping" into Rich's death.

And a manager at Lou's City Bar, where Rich was spotted hours before he was shot and killed, told WND police never interviewed the bar's staff or requested evidence from the establishment, including surveillance video from that night.

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When WND contacted the FBI and asked if the bureau is investigating Rich's murder, the FBI referred WND to the Metropolitan Police Department "because it's their investigation."

When WND contacted the Metropolitan Police Department concerning allegations that the department has shut down its investigation into the murder and is withholding evidence from the public, the department told WND: "MPD does not entertain conspiracy theories and does not engage with conspiracy theorists. If you are in possession of information that you believe to be relevant to this or any case, please let us know the details of information such that it can help, rather than hinder, our investigation."

Also, MPD Detective Joseph Della-Camera refused to provide WND with any details or information pertaining to Rich's unsolved murder.

In a separate interview with the Corpus Christi Caller-Times Wednesday, Rep. Farenthold elaborated on his earlier statements to CNN, saying the Rich murder should be investigated with the same vigor as the review of purported Russian interference during the 2016 election.

"[The Rich murder] should be part of the ongoing investigation into alleged Russian interference in the election, because that's an alternative theory that deserves being looked at," he said.

Farenthold explained that he hasn't formed an opinion regarding who killed Rich, but the theory that he was killed for leaking DNC information is "as credible as the anonymous sources being cited in the [former FBI Director Jame] Comey and Russian stories against President Trump."

The congressman is now getting blasted on social media for suggesting Rich may have had ties to the DNC emails released by WikiLeaks. Others have commended him for taking a stand.

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