Earlier this month, FBI agents executed a search warrant on the home of Tampa City Council member Lynn Hurtak and her husband Timothy Burke, seizing computers, video equipment and other devices.
While it was unknown at the time what the raid ultimately entailed, Hurtak, who was recently re-elected to serve on the Tampa City Council, revealed that based on the information they had available at the time, the search warrant executed on their home was solely related to Burke’s work as a journalist.
Still, the details surrounding the raid were a bit murky and details haven’t been readily provided until now. The Tampa Bay Times is reporting that the raid of Hurtak and Burke’s home “stemmed from an investigation of alleged computer intrusions and intercepted communications at the Fox News Network.”
The Times obtained a letter Thursday that a Tampa federal prosecutor sent to Fox News, which describes an ongoing criminal probe into computer hacks at the company, including unaired video from Tucker Carlson’s show. The former primetime host was dropped by the network in April.
The letter does not mention Burke, but the Times confirmed with two people close to the investigation that the matter relates to the May 8 search at his Seminole Heights home.
Tucker Carlson, Fox News hacks tied to FBI search of Tampa council member’s homehttps://t.co/dYTi2VXAbI
— Tampa Bay Times (@TB_Times) May 26, 2023
According to the Times, the letter states that the hacked material relates to a story published by Vice News, which showed distributing parts of Carlson’s interview with Kanye West that Fox News did not air. As well as a video series published by Media Matters for America, which touted those leaks.
Carlson has previously bemoaned about Fox leaking his private conversations and this appears to be linked to that.
How that relates to Burke and his level of involvement is still unclear, but as the Times has pointed out and confirmed via multiple sources, the investigation does relate to the search of his home. Burke declined comment to the Tampa Bay Times about the report.
Burke, a mainstay of the online sports world and a former video editor at Deadspin, has long been known for his array of video equipment and ability to post video clips on social media quickly. Burke, who is currently the president of Burke Communications, which provides media training, social media consulting, and political strategy, has not posted on social media since Sunday, May 7. The website for the company has been down since the initial raid and is still currently down.
More details will soon follow, but it appears that the FBI raided the Tampa home in connection with Tucker Carlson and Fox News, which would perhaps directly relate to Burke’s work as a journalist, as his wife previously mentioned.
[Tampa Bay Times] Image via E.W. Scripps School of Journalism
