JUST IN: Reporter Indicted For Allegedly Hacking Fox News, Leaking Tucker Videos

Journalist Timothy Burke has been indicted on charges related to a cyber attack on Fox News. Burke is accused of obtaining unfavorable videos of Tucker Carlson, in which the former host mocked gender pronouns and made off-color remarks about a Fox makeup artist.

The videos had circulated online last year, shortly after Carlson, who had been the network’s top host for years, was abruptly fired. The indictment, first reported by the Washington Post, came after an investigation into the leaked content which portrayed Carlson in a negative light.

Burke’s attorney firmly denied his client’s involvement, arguing that the videos were publicly accessible at the time they were leaked. Despite this, the FBI conducted a search of Burke’s house in Florida last May, just before Fox News was alerted to potential cybercrimes against it.

The search was part of a broader investigation into how the videos were released to the public.

WATCH:

Mark Rasch, a lawyer representing Burke, acknowledged to The Washington Post that a search of Burke’s residence was conducted as part of the investigation into the cybercrime allegations against Fox News. However, Rasch refuted any claims of illegal actions by Burke.

“He never hacked Fox News,” Rasch stated. “We are confident that when all the facts come out, it will be demonstrated that Timothy never hacked anyone and that all the information he provided was accessible to the public.”

An arraignment is set for today at 5 pm Eastern time.

In May of 2023, leaked clips showed Carlson hilariously telling Media Matters “go f**k yourself.” The conservative firebrand’s jokes were captured on a hot mic during a commercial break. Media Matters, a left-wing watchdog group, had been critical of his show’s content.

In a separate video, Carlson couldn’t resist poking fun at his former colleague Bill O’Reilly, whose infamous “F*ck it, we’ll do it live!” outburst during a taping of his show in 2008 was caught on camera and went viral.

Burke, with nearly a decade of experience in digital media at Deadspin, became known for his adeptness in compiling publicly available videos into compelling narratives. His notable work included a March 2018 video that highlighted TV anchors from Sinclair Broadcast Group stations reciting the same script criticizing “biased and false news.”

Wow huge scandal. Leaked footage reveals that Tucker Carlson is funny and normal. https://t.co/17Zo7wIgbj

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 2, 2023

“Tim is a master at finding links to stuff publicly posted on the internet,” Rasch said. “If a video is posted, public, unencrypted, and unprotected, then there’s simply no crime committed when a journalist like Tim finds it, reviews it, and accurately reports on it, even where, and maybe especially where, the subjects wish it was suppressed. That’s the essence of journalism in the digital age.”

The Justice Department’s communication with Fox, revealed by The Post, indicated that neither Media Matters nor Vice will face legal repercussions for disseminating the unauthorized footage. Aaron Mackey of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said that publishers have a robust First Amendment right to report on such materials, provided they did not directly obtain them unlawfully.

Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters, stood by the decision to publish the Carlson videos, highlighting the importance of covering leaked material in journalism, without divulging how the videos were acquired.