The Wall Street Journal in June reported that Smith contacted hackers in hopes of gaining access to a trove of emails he believed was hacked from Clinton’s server and claimed he had ties to former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Smith told the Journal that he was unable to authenticate the emails several hacker groups offered him, and therefore “told all the groups to give them to WikiLeaks.”

According to the report, Smith spoke to the Journal 10 days before his death.

[link to talkingpointsmemo.com]