While his office is under investigation by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk is filing a legal motion to see what exactly he is under investigation for.
Funk joined a motion first made by NewsChannel 5 to unseal the records, according to the news outlet.
In February, Skrmetti launched a criminal probe into Funk’s office after revelations that listening devices had been installed around Funk’s office.
At the time, Funk was instructed to preserve all evidence “regarding the purchase, installation, maintenance, and operation of recording devices,” as well as any audio recordings and any communications about those recordings.
Funk denied the February allegations.
“We have never conducted any unauthorized audio or video recording of any area where a person has a legitimate expectation of privacy,” Funk wrote in a letter to Skrmetti’s office. “We know what the law allows and what the law prohibits.”
In March, agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) raided Funk’s office.
“We are not able, at this time, to speak to the nature or scope of efforts at this location. While we understand the public’s desire for information, we must — at the same time — maintain confidentiality for the purpose of investigative integrity. At this time, we have no further information to provide,” TBI told NewsChannel 5 at the time.
Three months later, Funk still finds himself under investigation, and now he wants to know why.
In the motion to unseal the records, Funk argues that it is necessary for him to know why he is being investigated.
“Thus, it is absolutely necessary to open the instant file and affidavit because it directly affects whether General Funk has an obligation to report the Attorney General to the Board of Professional Responsibility, request an advisory opinion, and/or request one or more court orders requiring the Attorney General to withdraw from representing General Funk and his office in all pending and future matters due to violations of its ethical and professional duties,” the motion says.
“Given the immediate consent and invitation by General Funk to inspect his office, he is bewildered as to why the Attorney General felt the need to procure a search warrant in this matter,” the motion continues. “Further, General [Funk] has no idea why the Attorney General felt the need to direct the search warrant to be sprung on the District Attorney’s Office without prior notice and during office hours while disrupting the staff who were busy working on cases to keep Nashville safe.”
The motion also argues that it has been more than five weeks since TBI raided his office, and Funk said he believes that is more than enough time for the law enforcement entity to announce what, if anything, it found.
“This release will confirm that any probable cause for this search warrant was predicated on either one or more individuals providing false information to law enforcement or a misapplication of the law,” the motion says.
Last year, Funk made headlines after he said he would refuse to follow Tennessee’s Human Life Protection Act after overturning Roe v. Wade.
The Human Life Protection Act passed in 2019, was a “trigger law” that took effect upon the overturning of Roe.
“I stated on September 24, 2020, I will not prosecute any woman who chooses to have a medical procedure to terminate a pregnancy or any medical doctor who performs this procedure at the request of their patient,” he said at the time. “I will use my constitutional powers to protect women, health providers and those making personal health decisions.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “Glenn Funk” by Glenn Funk.
