NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A criminal investigation of Nashville DA Glenn Funk's office is continuing, state attorneys told a judge Wednesday, arguing that the release of documents related to a March raid would hurt their case.
"There's a number of dangers to ongoing investigations that justify keeping these records confidential," assistant attorney general Cody Brandon told Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Jennifer Smith.
"That includes disclosure of potential witnesses or sources of information."
Agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation searched Funk's offices in downtown Nashville in late March.
That followed a NewsChannel 5 investigation that raised questions about the possible presence of listening devices in and around the DA's offices, as well as questions about the use of government resources for Funk's re-election campaign and a former employee who got paid $75,000 a year with little evidence of what he did for the money.
NewsChannel 5's parent company Scripps Media filed a motion to unseal the search warrant issued by another Davidson County judge, along with the affidavit laying out the legal foundation for the search and an inventory of what was seized.
Scripps lawyer Ron Harris told Smith that "this is a matter of public interest."
"The potential target — which I guess would be somebody in Mr. Funk's office or Mr. Funk himself — is fully aware that there is an investigation," Harris continued. "They are fully aware of what was taken. They are fully aware of what's being looked at."
Funk's lawyer, Jim Kay, joined in Scripps' motion to unseal the records.
"This may be the only time in this lifetime that General Funk ever agrees with Scripps and Mr. Williams on anything," Kay quipped.
In this case, Kay argued Funk wants information on what he sees as a conflict of interest by the Tennessee attorney general's office, which has the authority to investigate sitting district attorneys and the responsibility to represent them when they are sued.
"The conflict is obvious sitting here in the courtroom," Kay said. "It's historic, and it's fatal to the attorney general's office. General Funk wants to know every lawyer that has their fingerprints on this matter that we are here about because they were doing everything they could while they were his lawyer to run this investigation."
Judge Smith did not appear to be receptive to Funk's argument.
"You've chosen to inject yourself into this motion filed by the media. Is this the proper forum to be litigating a conflict case? It strikes me as perhaps not the right forum to be discussing that issue," Smith said.
Kay admitted, "It may not be."
The judge also questioned state attorneys who argued that NewsChannel 5 has no right at this point to be asking to see the court's records related to the search.
"Doesn't Davidson County have a right to know why its chief law enforcement's office was searched?" Smith asked.
Cody Brandon answered, "I'm not sure, Your Honor."
Smith indicated that she is struggling with the question of whether she can rule on Scripps' motion or whether she needs to defer to Criminal Court Judge Cheryl Blackburn, who issued the search warrant used to raid Funk's offices.
The judge indicated she would issue a written ruling at some point.
Do you have information for our investigation? Email us: investigate@newschannel5.com
Previous stories: