NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A damning state investigation concludes that Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk’s office operated an extensive surveillance system that secretly recorded conversations of criminal defense attorneys, members of the DA’s own staff and visitors without their knowledge.
The investigative report, issued by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office following up on questions first raised by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, also confirms that government resources were utilized in Funk’s 2022 re-election campaign and reveals that the Nashville Democrat allegedly retaliated against an assistant district attorney after a member of her family supported one of Funk’s challengers.
In addition, the comptroller’s report questions whether Funk may have supplied investigators with a bogus statement about the origin of some campaign-related signs.
“Elected district attorneys must act with high integrity and ethical standards when managing day-to-day business and office affairs,” Comptroller Jason Mumpower said in a written statement.
“The actions noted by our investigators bring into question the DAG’s integrity and the public’s confidence in his ability to fulfill his responsibilities.”
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation — which executed a search warrant on the DA’s office in March 2023 — was also involved in the probe.
Investigators concluded that various laws may have been broken, including wiretapping laws. Those conclusions have been provided to Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility, which polices the ethics of the state’s lawyers, the report says.
Following release of the report, Skrmetti followed up with a letter to Funk indicating that his office would not be prosecuting any potential violations uncovered by investigators.
"As you know well, criminal charges should be pursued only where probable cause establishes that a person has committed a crime and where available and admissible evidence is of sufficient quality and veracity to support a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt," Skrmetti wrote in a letter obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
"Following careful review of the evidence, it is my opinion that the facts and law do not provide sufficient basis for a successful criminal prosecution."
Funk's office quickly declared victory.
"This matter is now at an end," spokesperson Steve Hayslip said by email.
"As General Funk has always stated, neither he nor his office has committed any crimes or broken any law. This office will continue our mission to support victims, hold offenders accountable, and keep Nashville Safe."
Among the specific findings outlined in the report:
Investigators uncovered evidence that criminal defense attorneys’ conversations were recorded without their knowledge inside a room where they were required to review sensitive evidence and that those conversations were later supplied to the prosecutors in those cases.
"Investigators spoke to numerous criminal defense attorneys, and they told investigators in part: they were unaware, and no office personnel had ever informed them that the viewing room was equipped with a microphone device capable of capturing their conversations or that they would be recorded in the viewing room while examining evidence in a criminal case," the report says.
“Privileged information among themselves was often discussed, including statements made by their clients along with defense strategies, and they said that they would not have stayed in the viewing room had they known that the room was equipped with a microphone.”
Funk’s office posted signs warning of video surveillance but did not reveal that those cameras were also equipped with microphones capable of intercepting conversations, as required by law.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates first revealed the eavesdropping system in February 2023, and “other defense attorneys stated they stopped coming to the district attorney’s office.”
Other cameras throughout the office were also capable of recording conversations, the report confirms.
Funk admitted he knew that those conversations were being recorded, the report states, although he insisted those defense attorneys had no expectation of privacy.
“They’re inside the District Attorney’s Office. They’re in an area inside of the District Attorney’s Office and you think they have an expectation of privacy?” Funk asked, according to the report.
Funk retaliated against an assistant district attorney, including ordering the use of office surveillance equipment, after it was discovered a family member had made a social media post in support of one of the DA’s opponents.
According to the report, the now-former prosecutor claimed that Funk told her that “the only way you could make this any better is if you donated a significant amount of time or money, but I don’t ask anyone to do that.”
Text messages retrieved by investigators show someone was urging Funk not to retaliate against the employee during the campaign.
“I don’t want you to seem Trumpish to people who don’t know you and have them think you fired her just because someone disagrees with you,” the person wrote.
Funk responded, “That’s mainly what I think. But others are recommending the more serious response.”
The district attorney general told investigators he ordered the surveillance of the employee “because of an alleged mismanagement of the former ADA’s working hours.”
“With the knowledge of the district attorney general, office employees participated in campaign activities during work hours and used government resources to promote and benefit the district attorney general’s re-election campaign,” the report says.
This finding confirms NewsChannel 5’s reporting, including the backdating of employee timesheets to take time off after our investigation found employees working for the campaign during office hours.
“Investigators found no evidence to indicate that these PTO forms would have been completed before questions were raised about employee’ time participating in campaign-related events,” the report says.
Funk provided investigators with a written statement that was later contradicted by the investigation.
Investigators were inquiring about signs used at a holiday breakfast inside a government building, and Funk gave them a written statement that the signs had been donated to his office.
“When investigators interviewed the owner of the local sign company, he stated to investigators … that he is unaware of anything being donated to the District Attorney’s Office,” the report says.
In fact, “investigators found evidence indicating that signs and banners of similar dimension, size and bearing the same logo were property of the district attorney general’s re-election campaign.”
This is a developing story. Watch NewsChannel 5 at 4 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. for new developments.
Below is a summary of NewsChannel 5’s recent investigations of the DA's Office:
Nov. 8, 2022: He's a $75,000-a-year government employee who gets paid with little evidence of what he's doing for the money. Week after week, he bills taxpayers for almost 20 hours a week, hours frequently listed in the middle of the night when no one else is around.
He's almost never recorded swiping through the office security system, logging into the computer system or sending an email.
Click here to read the story that kicked off this investigation.
Nov. 10, 2022: An exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation has uncovered new questions about whether employees in Nashville DA Glenn Funk's office crossed the line, using your tax dollars during last spring's campaign to help get the boss reelected.
That months-long investigation would eventually lead to damaging emails showing campaign work being done using office computers, as well as evidence of an attempt to recreate vacation requests for one employee who was volunteering for Funk's campaign.
Dec. 19, 2022: New photos and emails from inside Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk's office are renewing questions about whether government resources were used to help get the boss re-elected. The photos of assistant DA Sunny Eaton's desk show a stack of domestic violence dockets for cases that had been handled by Funk's challenger.
Read more about what our investigation uncovered here.
Feb. 9, 2023: District Attorney Glenn Funk's team installed listening devices in areas around the DA's office capable of picking up conversations of employees and visitors who are not warned about the audio monitoring, NewsChannel 5 has learned.
In a written statement, Funk's office insisted "there is no reasonable expectation of privacy for conversations in public places."
There’s more to the story that can be found here.
Feb. 20, 2023: How many listening devices were placed in and around Nashville DA Glenn Funk's office? New emails obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates are raising that question — even as Tennessee's attorney general opens a criminal investigation into Funk's office. The newly obtained emails raise the possibility that the eavesdropping could have been even more pervasive.
Click here to read more about those emails.
March 24, 2023: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents and technicians descended upon the offices of District Attorney General Glenn Funk as part of an on-going criminal investigation into the operations of the DA's office. About a dozen TBI personnel were seen going in and out of Funk's offices in downtown Nashville.
The full story can be found here.
May 2, 2023: When Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents descended upon the offices of Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk back in March, the DA issued a statement saying they were there following his "invitation." Now, NewsChannel 5 Investigates has learned 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 a friendly visit as much as it was a raid.
You can read more about this development by clicking here.
June 28, 2023: So who's funding the political campaigns that affect you and your family? That's the question raised by our latest NewsChannel 5 investigation. That investigation discovered a number of questionable contributions that helped fuel Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk's re-election campaign. Funk's campaign says those discrepancies were all innocent mistakes.
Click here to read more about those questionable contributions.
Aug. 17, 2023: The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance voted to take no action regarding a series of questionable contributions to Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk's 2022 re-election campaign. Board members argued that there was nothing else for them to do since no one has filed a sworn complaint alleging any violations of campaign finance laws.
There’s more to the story here.
Sept. 19, 2023: An unprecedented raid of the Nashville District Attorney's Office in March included a search of DA Glenn Funk's own office — including his laptop, briefcase and other electronics — as TBI agents sought evidence of possible illegal wiretapping, according to newly unsealed court documents. Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Jennifer Smith ordered the release of documents in response to a motion filed by NewsChannel 5.
This is what agents were seeking.
Feb. 23, 2024: Documents that Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk fought to keep secret raise new questions about eavesdropping in and around the DA's offices. Those documents, produced as a result of a months-long legal battle waged by NewsChannel 5, reveal there were more microphones — and more concern about conversations being monitored — than the DA admitted.
Click here to see what was in those documents.
Do you have information for our investigation? Email us: investigate@newschannel5.com
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