(CN) — Journalist and Tampa Bay media consultant Tim Burke was arrested on Thursday and faces 14 charges related to a hacking at Fox News, according to federal court documents filed in Florida's middle district.
“Burke played multiple roles in the conspiracy, including utilizing compromised credentials to gain unauthorized access to protected computers, scouring those protected computers for electronic items and information, obtaining and stealing electronic items … and intercepting and disclosing the contents of wire, oral, and/or electronic video communications,” prosecutors claimed in the indictment, unsealed Thursday.
Burke is charged with one count of conspiracy, six counts of accessing a protected computer without authorization and seven counts of intercepting or disclosing communications.
The 45-year-old’s arrest was prompted by a hacking incident involving Fox News. Last year, the Tampa Bay Times reported that Burke was being investigated over leaked, unaired footage from the network.
The most infamous clip contained an antisemetic rant from Kanye West during an interview with former network host Tucker Carlson, which was edited out of the final aired interview. In another leaked video, Carlson discussed his deposition in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case.
Several outlets platformed the videos after the leak, prompting Fox News lawyers to send a cease-and-desist letter to one — Media Matters — urging it to stop publishing the videos.
The indictment doesn’t list Fox News by name; it refers to a “multinational media company headquartered in New York City, New York that produced and distributed content through multiple brands.”
It also accuses Burke of gaining unauthorized access to the file transfer protocol server for “one of the major sports leagues in North America.” A Twitter message listed in the indictment included a link sent from an unnamed possible co-conspirator of Burke's that contained the hub “for all of their footage they post to social, send to partners, etc.”
“Burke used compromised credentials to gain unauthorized access from the specified IP address to a protected computer,” prosecutors claim, accusing Burke of trying to “obtain, download, and steal electronic items and information” from the server.
Burke expressed some frustration throughout the process to his purported co-conspirator, according to more Twitter messages in the indictment.
“I kind of gave up … because the transfers were so slow,” Burke wrote. “Are they slow for you?”
Burke’s home was raided in 2023 by FBI agents, who seized his personal electronic devices and personal electronics. The incident prompted a barrage of media coverage, thanks in part to Burke’s marriage to Lynn Hurtak, a prominent Tampa City Council member.
It also prompted backlash, with more than 50 organizations signing a letter to the Department of Justice demanding more information about the raid.
“Journalists cannot be expected to refrain from using the internet to find newsworthy content just because powerful companies would prefer to keep it private,” Freedom of the Press Foundation Advocacy Director Seth Stern said in a statement about the raid.
Burke’s lawyers held that his online sleuthing methods never broke the law. They say that Burke never used stolen credentials and only accessed feeds open to members of the public. They also argue that, as a journalist, his activity is protected by the U.S. Constitution.
“It’s not hacking, it’s just good investigative journalism,” Maddux told the Tampa Bay Times on Thursday. “We obviously emphatically deny these charges and we’re looking forward to the opportunity to defend him and exonerate him.”
Burke currently runs Burke Communications, a media and political consulting company with a number of high-profile clients. He previously worked for online news publications The Daily Beast and Deadspin, where he helped uncover the intricate catfishing scheme of Notre Dame football star Manti T’eo.
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