DebunkingThe conspiracy theories have been debunked by law enforcement,[5][6] as well as by fact-checking websites like PolitiFact.com ,[6][8] Snopes.com ,[9] and FactCheck.org .[5]The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia described the murder as related to a bungled attempted at theft.[5] Police further debunked claims by Rod Wheeler, and made a statement saying: "the assertions put forward by Mr. Wheeler are unfounded."[5] The FBI told PolitiFact.com that the MPD was investigating the homicide.[8]A representative of the Rich's family members, Brad Bauman, disputed the notion of conspiracy theorists that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was involved in looking into the homicide.[5] Bauman stated: "The FBI is not now and has never been a party to this investigation."[5] FactCheck.org analyzed statements by Newt Gingrich related to the conspiracy theory, where Gingrich said Rich "apparently was assassinated" subsequent to "having given WikiLeaks something like … 53,000 [DNC] emails and 17,000 attachments".[5] FactCheck.org determined this claim was "unsupported" and determined "there's no evidence for his claim."[5] PolitiFact.com rated the assertion Rich gave emails to WikiLeaks as a "baseless claim".[6] They called the claim "an unfounded conspiracy theory".[6] PolitiFact.com analyzed the claims by Gingrich and rated their false nature as "Pants on Fire!"[6] PolitiFact.com concluded: "Gingrich and others are talking about an unfounded conspiracy theory as if it's a matter of fact. It is far from it. We rate his claim Pants on Fire."[6] In a separate analysis, PolitiFact.com concluded: "There's no evidence there's any link between Rich and WikiLeaks. The FBI has indirectly denied investigating the case, which Washington police consider a robbery gone wrong."[8]