A whistleblower who supplied secret files to federal authorities investigating Deutsche Bank's dealings with former President Trump has been found dead. The body of 46-year-old Valentin Broeksmit was found by a cleaning crew just before 7am Wednesday at Woodrow Wilson High School in Los Angeles, Sgt. Rudy Perez of the Los Angeles School Police Department tells the Los Angeles Times. A cause of death has not been released for the self-described "comically terrible spy." However, Los Angeles Police Capt. Kenneth Cabrera says foul play is not suspected.
After Deutsche Bank executive Bill Broeksmit died by suicide in 2014, his adopted son uncovered board meeting minutes, financial plans, spreadsheets, and more hidden in his email. He then turned over the files to journalists, research firm Fusion GPS, and the FBI, which was investigating the bank's dealings with Trump, David Enrich reported for the New York Times in 2019. He noted the FBI had allowed Broeksmit to publicly identify as a cooperating witness in a federal criminal investigation after he visited an FBI office in Los Angeles. He was repeatedly subpoenaed by the US House Intelligence Committee and ended up as a major figure in Enrich's 2020 book, Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction.
But by April 2021, he had disappeared, per NBC News. Friends and family said he was last known to be in Los Angeles' Griffith Park, per KNBC. It now appears he was homeless, according to Perez. Forensic News Network journalist Scott Stedman, who describes receiving documents from Broeksmit showing Deutsche Bank's "deep Russia connections," says he last spoke to the struggling musician in January. "I don't suspect foul play. Val struggled with drugs on and off," he says in a tweet. In response, Enrich says, "We had a complicated relationship, but this is just devastating to hear." A final medical examiner's report is not likely to be released before summer. (More FBI informant stories.)
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