Peter W. Smith, GOP operative who sought Clinton's emails from Russian hackers, committed suicide

[MelissaB]

Peter W. Smith, GOP operative who sought Clinton's emails from Russian hackers, committed suicide, records show

Link to tweet

Peter W. Smith, GOP operative who sought Clinton's emails from Russian hackers, committed suicide, records show

A Republican donor and operative from Chicago's North Shore who said he had tried to obtain Hillary Clinton's missing emails from Russian hackers killed himself in a Minnesota hotel room days after talking to the Wall Street Journal about his efforts, public records show.

In a room at a Rochester hotel used almost exclusively by Mayo Clinic patients and relatives, Peter W. Smith, 81, left a carefully prepared file of documents, which includes a statement police called a suicide note in which he said he was in ill health and a life insurance policy was expiring.

Days earlier, the financier from suburban Lake Forest gave an interview to the Journal about his quest, and it published stories about his efforts beginning in late June. The Journal also reported it had seen emails written by Smith showing his team considered retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, then a top adviser to Republican Donald Trump's campaign, as an ally. Flynn briefly was President Trump's national security adviser and resigned after it was determined he had failed to disclose contacts with Russia.

... snip

However, the Chicago Tribune obtained a Minnesota state death record filed in Olmsted County that says Smith committed suicide in a hotel near the Mayo Clinic at 1:17 p.m. on Sunday, May 14. He was found with a bag over his head with a source of helium attached. A medical examiner's report gives the same account, without specifying the time, and a report from Rochester police further details his suicide.

Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-peter-smith-death-met-0713-20170713-story.html

[bettyellen]

1. Shortly after admitting his role!?!

[Shrike47]

2. Sure he did. No Russian or Trump family help, either.

[MelissaB]

8. I can't help but wonder the same thing.

Follow the trail of dead (well, it was) Russians...

[malaise]

10. I asked that the night Rachel said he had died

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[MelissaB]

13. My husband & I wondered the same thing, but when we found out his age

thought maybe coincidence. At this point I question all coincidences.

[malaise]

17. Can't remember but a DUer did mention his age on the thread about his death

Sure he was 81 but his death seemed a bit strange

[pnwmom]

47. I remember saying in a thread like that some causes of death, like suicide,

are just as likely in an elderly person. But so is murder.

Just because he was 81 didn't prove anything.

[malaise]

48. I agree

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[htuttle]

3. Novel way to do it

"He was found with a bag over his head with a source of helium attached. " according to the article.

[gratuitous]

5. His life insurance policy wasn't the only thing expiring

I'm no expert, but don't most life insurance policies have an exclusion for suicide?

[htuttle]

7. I think they all do

Pretty standard exclusion clause.

[DefenseLawyer]

11. I'm no expert either

But I think the suicide clause is usually only for a period of years at beginning of a policy, not for the life of the policy.

[dalton99a]

16. The exclusion typically lasts only two years

[Victor_c3]

38. Some don't

My experience has been that whole-life insurance plans don't exclude suicide while term-life insurance plans tend to.

I have a history of suicide attempts and hospitalizations and I tried to get life insurance for my family in the event that I do kill myself. I'm not planning on suicide, but when I get into a certain state of mind I'm not thinking rationally and that's when suicide becomes an option to me. You never know what the future might bring.

Anyways, I haven't been able to get life insurance as a result of my past suicidal ideation. It's probably a good thing. When I'm not being rational and weighing out the decision in my head, having life insurance for my family members might be another reason to go for it.

[gratuitous]

49. Someone I knew was considering suicide

Thankfully, she didn't go through with it, and one of the factors for her deciding against it was that her life insurance policy wouldn't pay off in case of a suicide. She wryly noted that her Type A personality saved her.

[moonscape]

18. Not really. It's not an uncommon method. n/t

[Thomas Hurt]

4. they just say it was suicide....

but it was obviously the work of the Soros/Obama/Clinton/Reptilian cabal....(snark)

Give the Trumpians a few hours or days at most, it will be a murder and conspiracy just like some of the nutjobs have been saying about Scalia.

[triron]

6. wonder if Rachel will touch on this?

[malaise]

41. Yep - she says more in a bit n/t

[Gothmog]

9. This poor person knew that the story was coming out

[MelissaB]

15. The article he wrote a blog post the day before

about how he thought the Russia story would die.

[liberal N proud]

12. How convenient

[Ilsa]

14. If you have a bag over your head,

even if you want to kill yourself, would you reflexively remove it? Or does the helium prevent the spasms?

[dalton99a]

24. Evidently there is quite a bit of work involved:

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Suicide/Suffocation/Helium

[Victor_c3]

39. That is a crazy and messed-up link!

I understand freedom of speech and I'm generally against censorship, but that is a dangerous resource for someone who might be suicidal to stumble upon.

The suffering while dying aspect might get be a reason to prevent someone from committing suicide. However, the article states that in as few as five full breaths of pure helium that most people are rendered unconscious takes away that fear. Also, it's not messy like other options.

Anyways, I'm not blaming you or angry for any reason. I'm just saying that's a messed-up resource!

[dalton99a]

42. Perhaps you should read further down

See the failure reports

[HipChick]

19. Trump Body count?

[MelissaB]

20. In the suicide note...

NO FOUL PLAY WHATSOEVER

Link to tweet

[brush]

21. Yeah, sure. Wanna buy a bridge?

[Moostache]

22. My wife and I both immediately asked "How'd he die?" when the piece first ran...

Helium assisted bag over the head????

WHO THE FUCK BELIEVES THAT IS SUICIDE?

Gunshot? Ok...
Hanging? Not unheard of...
Falling from a high place? Kinda dicey...

Stick a bag over your head and using "a source of helium" attached to it? REALLY?!?!
Riiiiiiiight...

[mythology]

23. It's a painless way to prevent the body from trying to survive

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_bag

It's not uncommon. Just because you're unfamiliar with it doesn't mean it's a shadowy conspiracy.

[Moostache]

25. Ok...thanks for the info and side of snark

Much obliged.

[LisaM]

26. I wonder why he was so poisonous about the Clintons?

It sounds as if we was obsessed, truly obsessed. What a sad ending to his story.

[Botany]

27. The ghost of Ray Lemme

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2005/4/17/107305/-

[Achilleaze]

28. Follow the trail of dead bodies

follow the trail of dead bodies

[R B Garr]

29. Wow, it's starting here, too?? Count the dead bodies all related

to something Russian. Yikes.

[lindysalsagal]

30. I read spy novels with plots like this on the treadmill at the gym.

This is beyond belief, and yet, it doesn't surprise me one bit.

[mopinko]

31. i cant imagine anyone would haul him to rochester to kill him.

read the whole link. friends knew he had heart trouble. likely got bad news at mayo.

and no, life insurance doesnt exclude suicide.
and yes, the method is well known, and included in a manual of how to off yourself from the death w dignity people.

i assumed he wanted to clear his conscience, knowing his end was nigh.

[pnwmom]

36. Why would he haul himself all the way there to commit suicide? n/t

[Victor_c3]

40. Maybe he knew his family wouldn't be the people to find him?

If he cared about his family, I could understand that part of it.

[pnwmom]

43. He could have gone to a motel a few miles away, and his family wouldn't have found him. n/t

[mopinko]

44. prolly went to mayo, but they gave him bad news.

[mopinko]

45. everybody goes to mayo hoping for a miracle.

been there w my kid.
miracles arent there for a lot of people.

[global1]

32. How Accessible Is Helium These Days?......

Is this something that I can go into a store and buy? Or do I have to buy a bunch of helium filled balloons and try and siphon off the helium from them?

[BumRushDaShow]

34. You can rent tanks from hardware chains like True Value

Some examples -

http://ww3.truevalue.com/whitebluff/Home/tabid/30444/mo/1/auid/213868-289961/Default.aspx
http://www.citytruevalue.com/justaskrental.php

People do that for big parties (like renting those bouncy things for kids, etc).

[Tatiana]

33. He wrote a note saying that his life insurance policy was expiring?

Really? I don't believe it.

They took him out before he could spill the rest of the info.

Let's hope he talked to other people...

[struggle4progress]

35. !

[WinkyDink]

37. I think this calls for about, oh, 4 or 5 commissions and inquiries. Is Ken Starr busy?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Vince_Foster

[MelissaB]

46. Update from Shane Harris

When I spoke to Peter Smith I had no indication that he was ill or planning to take his own life.

Link to tweet

[oasis]

50. Rachel Maddow mentioned Smith suicide story on MSNBC tonight.

However, no in depth coverage.

[alcibiades_mystery]

51. Curiouser and curiouser

[ecstatic]

52. He was killed. Journalists (Shane Harris) need to be careful when verifying these stories

While Shane Harris was out there trying to corroborate Peter's account, Peter was killed. On his appearances on Rachel, etc., it didn't appear to me that Shane Harris gave it a second thought. Yeah, I know Peter was 81, but still. I don't think he and others understand that the criminals involved will do whatever it takes to bury any leads. I think some journalists need to wake up to the new era we're in. If someone comes to you with sensitive information, they should be protected. FBI witness protection style.

[Zen Democrat]

53. Why does an 81 year old man need life insurance?