A Republican lobbyist currently supporting a Trump aide charged over the Russia probe told Wednesday how he was pepper sprayed and punched by a masked man in his driveway.
Jack Burkman told DailyMail.com he was doused in the face with spray and struck on the head by an unknown assailant who pulled up in a black SUV outside his home at 7:25pm on Tuesday. The attacker then sped off.
The lobbyist suffered burns to his face following the attack.
Burkman hosted a fundraiser last month for Rick Gates, 45, a long-time business associate and protégé of Paul Manafort, the man who ran Trump’s presidential campaign for several months in 2016 and is also charged by Mueller.
He also launched his own investigation into the murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, whose death in 2016 has become the focus of conspiracy theories.
Victim: Jack Burkman (left) said his face was left reddened and swollen after the attack on Tuesday evening in the driveway of his Arlington, VA home, which his public relations firm linked to his support for Rick Gates (right), the ex-Trump campaign aide charged by Robert Mueller
Scene of the crime: Arlington police said they were called to the home after a report of malicious wounding by caustic agent. Nobody has been arrested
Following the attack, Burkman contacted Arlington police and filed a report.
Arlington police said: ‘At approximately 7:31 p.m. on January 16, police were dispatched to the report of an assault that had just occurred. Upon arrival, it was determined that as the victim was returning to his residence, he located an unknown dark colored SUV in his driveway.
‘The male driver exited the vehicle and sprayed the victim with a caustic substance before fleeing the scene in the vehicle. The victim was treated on scene by medics for minor injuries. The suspect is described as a white male wearing a mask and black jacket. The investigation is ongoing.’
Burkman’s public relations firm appeared to link the attack with his Gates fundraiser last month.
A statement read: ‘The attack happened just hours after Burkman released a scathing statement about the judge overseeing the prosecution of Rick Gates.’
The lobbyist’s statement criticized Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who accused Gates of violating her gag order after a pre-recorded message was shown to the gathering at the Holiday Inn in Arlington.
The DC fundraiser, which was sparsely attended, was held to help Gates pay for lawyers to fight the federal charges.
Link: Rick Gates was deputy to Paul Manafort, the Trump campaign chairman who he will go on trial with later this year. Burkman launched his own investigation into the murder of Seth Rich
Burkman has also launched a campaign to find out who murdered the Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich in July 2016, just steps from his DC home.
He has alleged that a conspiracy theory involving hacked DNC emails being leaked by an insider – and not by Russian operatives as the intelligence community has confirmed – is behind Rich’s death. The victim’s parents have distanced themselves from the campaign.