Murder case postponed over concerns about Nashville District Attorney wiretapping

Below is a summary of NewsChannel 5’s recent investigations into the District Attorney’s Office:

November 8, 2022: He is a government employee earning $75,000 a year and being paid with no evidence of what he does for the money. Week after week, he bills for almost 20 hours a week, often in the middle of the night when no one else is around.

He was almost never recorded browsing the office security system, logging into the computer system, or sending an email.

Part-time District Attorney employee earning $75,000 a year makes money with little proof of work

Click here to read the story that sparked this investigation.

November 10, 2022: An exclusive investigation by NewsChannel 5 has uncovered new questions about whether employees in Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk’s office crossed the line by using tax dollars during last year’s spring campaign to help re-elect their chief.

This months-long investigation ultimately led to malicious emails showing campaign work using office computers, as well as evidence of an attempt to recreate leave applications for one employee who had volunteered for Funk’s campaign.

Watch the story here.

December 19, 2022: New photos and emails from Nashville County Attorney General Glenn Funk’s office renew questions about whether government resources were used to help re-elect the chief. Photos of Assistant District Attorney Sunny Eaton’s desk show a stack of domestic violence files in cases handled by Funk’s challenger.

You can read more about what our investigation found here.

February 9, 2023: NewsChannel 5 has learned that District Attorney Glenn Funk’s team has installed listening devices in areas around the District Attorney’s office that can pick up conversations of employees and visitors who were not warned about the audio monitoring.

In a written statement, Funk’s office emphasized that there is “no reasonable expectation of privacy for conversations in public places.”

Listening devices installed in Nashville district attorney’s office, but district attorney defends practice

More of this story can be found here.

February 20, 2023: How many listening devices were placed in and around Glenn Funk’s Nashville office? New emails received by NewsChannel 5 investigates are raising the issue — even as the Tennessee attorney general launches an investigation into Funk’s office. Newly obtained emails suggest that wiretapping may have been even more widespread.

Click here to read more about these emails.

March 24, 2023: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents and technicians responded to the office of District Attorney General Glenn Funk as part of an ongoing investigation into the activities of the District Attorney’s Office. More than a dozen TBI employees were seen walking in and out of Funk’s offices in downtown Nashville.

As the investigation continues, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents arrive at the Nashville District Attorney’s offices

The whole story can be found here.

May 2, 2023: When Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents entered Nashville County Attorney General Glenn Funk’s office in March, the prosecutor issued a statement saying they were there at his “invitation.” Now, NewsChannel 5 investigates learned that agents were executing a search warrant issued by a Davidson County judge authorizing them to look for evidence of criminal activity, meaning it was not as much a friendly visit as it was a raid.

You can read more about this development by clicking here.

June 28, 2023: So who funds political campaigns that affect you and your family? This question came up in our latest investigation by NewsChannel 5. That investigation uncovered a number of questionable contributions that helped fuel Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk’s re-election campaign. Funk’s campaign claims all of these discrepancies were innocent mistakes.

Click here to read more about these questionable cartridges.

August 17, 2023: The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance voted to take no action on a series of questionable contributions to Nashville County Attorney General Glenn Funk’s 2022 re-election campaign. Board members argued they had nothing else to do because no one had filed a complaint under oath, containing an allegation of violation of campaign finance regulations.

There’s more of that story here.

September 19, 2023: An unprecedented raid on the Nashville District Attorney’s office in March included a search of U.S. Attorney Glenn Funk’s office – including his laptop, briefcase and other electronic equipment – as TBI agents searched for evidence of possible illegal wiretapping, according to newly released court documents. Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Jennifer Smith ordered the documents released in response to a request filed by NewsChannel 5.

This is what the agents were looking for.

February 23, 2024: The documents, which Nashville County Attorney General Glenn Funk tried to keep secret, raise new questions about wiretapping in and around the district attorney’s offices. These documents, the result of a months-long legal battle by NewsChannel 5, reveal that there were more microphones and greater concerns about monitoring calls than prosecutors admitted.

Click here to see what was in these documents.

September 25, 2024: A damning state investigation found that Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk’s office operated an extensive surveillance system that secretly recorded conversations of criminal defense attorneys, members of the district attorney’s staff and guests without their knowledge.

You can read more about the report’s results here.

September 25, 2024: Tennessee’s top government watchdog is calling for a special prosecutor to give a second opinion on whether Nashville County Attorney General Glenn Funk or anyone in his office violated any law.

You can watch this interview here.

Do you have information needed for our investigation? Write to us: [email protected]

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NC5 investigates: DA offers