The Clintons at the 58th Presisdential inauguration, 2017.

Was FBI Special Agent David Raynor Murdered Before Clinton Testimony?

The mysterious deaths of people embroiled in (or at least adjacent to) political controversy is a favorite topic of the conspiracy theory set, and the case of Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent David Raynor, who died in March 2018 in what law enforcement found to be a murder-suicide, is no exception.

The conclusions of law enforcement that didn’t stop conspiracy sites from immediately pushing stories attempting to connect Raynor’s death to the Clintons. There are only three problems: One, Raynor’s death wasn’t related to his work with the bureau; two, he was not scheduled to testify against Hillary Clinton; and finally, the rumor appears to have started with NeonNettle.com. That website, which states that its content is presented “as is” and “with all faults,” does not have a high level of credibility and in fact is known for pushing disinformation more often than not.

This particular story, which appeared under the headline “FBI Agent Who Exposed Hillary Clinton Cover-up Found Dead,” falsely reported that Raynor was scheduled to testify about the extent of Hillary Clinton and former United States President Barack Obama’s cover-up of the Fast and Furious “gunwalking” scandal.

Neon Nettle deleted the story within days of publication, but not before it was archived. The report has since been repeated in the echo chamber of fringe, conspiracy-minded websites, despite the irrefutable fact that there is no indication that it is true.

Raynor and his estranged wife were found dead in a murder-suicide in Crownsville, Maryland, in March 2018. Officers responded to the scene after a woman reported being threatened by her estranged husband, Anne Arundel County Police said:

Upon arrival, police found David Raynor, 52, with multiple stab wounds and an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Donna Fisher, 54, was found with apparent stab wounds. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Raynor joined the FBI in 1996 and had worked at the bureau’s Baltimore field office since 2003, law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation tell CBS News. These officials say this was a domestic situation, and not related to any case Raynor was working on.

There is no indication that Raynor investigated or worked on any case related to either the Clintons or Fast and Furious. This story is part of the long-running “Clinton body count” conspiracy theory that uses a list of people who have died and some creatively massaged “facts” about their associations with the Clintons in order to “prove” that the political family has systematically murdered political opponents and foes over the years. Any deaths of FBI agents that appear in the news are swept up in the conspiracy theory at this point.