NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Documents that Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk fought to keep secret raise new questions about eavesdropping in and around the DA's offices — as the TBI continues its investigation into possible illegal wiretapping.
Those documents, recently 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 had admitted.
Among the newly obtained evidence: notes from a staff meeting indicating that an IT employee had "discovered wide range of audio throughout ofc."
Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea L. Myles ordered Funk to produce the records.
Funk's office is currently the subject of a criminal probe — led by the Tennessee attorney general and being conducted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation — focusing on possible violations of federal and state wiretapping laws. Those laws make it illegal for conversations to be monitored where people have an expectation of privacy.
That followed a NewsChannel 5 investigation that revealed the presence of equipment capable of monitoring conversations without the knowledge of employees and visitors to the DA's offices, located in downtown Nashville.
Last March, TBI agents raided the DA's offices, including Funk's personal office, looking for evidence. A month earlier, NewsChannel 5 Investigates had revealed that the state attorney general had sent a letter to Funk demanding the preservation of all evidence as part of a newly opened criminal investigation.
"We have never conducted any unauthorized audio or video recording of any area where a person has a legitimate expectation of privacy," Funk said in a letter to the AG. "We know what the law allows and what the law prohibits."
After news of that investigation first broke, Funk and his team went into damage control, responding in news stories in The Tennessean and the Nashville Scene.
Yet, when NewsChannel 5 Investigates filed an official public records request for communications with those two outlets, Funk refused to hand over the documents.
Funk's attorney, Jim Kay, recently acknowledged in a court hearing that the office did not have a solid legal argument for not producing correspondence with other journalists.
Included was an email to The Tennessean, noting a "recent tour" provided to the reporter and claiming "we have more than two dozen cameras," but "only a few of the cameras (primarily in lobby areas) have audio capability."
Funk had also called an emergency staff meeting after news first broke of that investigation.
An example of a meeting note that DA Glenn Funk's office gave us -- and the one that a judge ordered them to release. pic.twitter.com/sju3RqTq8D
— Phil Williams (@NC5PhilWilliams) February 23, 2024
But, when NewsChannel 5 Investigates filed a public records request for notes taken by those staff members, Funk's team produced a stack of documents that were so heavily redacted that they were virtually useless.
Funk's office had claimed that they were trying to protect confidential secrets about building security, but the judge also ordered most of those pages released.
Below what had been a black blob on the page provided by the DA's office, we found a note that "Will" had "discovered wide range of audio throughout ofc" — not just the lobby.
The notes from that staff meeting suggest Funk placed blame on Randall Ladd, the former director of operations for the office.
Also among clues that the DA's office tried to keep secret, a staff member's note: "2022. Randall is listening to us! Told to stop."
The person added, "No recording that Glenn Funk knows about."
Among another person's notes: "Maybe Randall listening, told not to listen."
Yet another staff member documented the following: "Last summer Randall listening to Mona's cam," referring to the reception area.
On another page: "Told Randall not to listen to ppl."
A sea of black redactions from another staff member's notes had hidden this notation: "There's what's legal and what's right. Nothing illegal about what Randall did."
Several of the pages carry references to Funk's often-repeated claims that his camera system was no different than Ring cameras used by many homeowners, although some legal experts have disputed the legal authority for Funk's team to monitor conversations of lawyers, defendants, even the DA's own employees in government offices.
The newly produced documents contain references to Funk's claim that the AG "could have ended" his investigation with a 15-minute visit and mentions of another investigation by auditors with the state comptroller's office.
That investigation stems from questions raised by NewsChannel 5 Investigates about a DA's employee who got paid with little evidence of what he did for the money and Funk aides working on his re-election campaign on taxpayer time.
Also hidden in the DA's initial redactions: a reference to his office being on "serious" probation with the TBI for its lack of controls over confidential criminal records, along with a note that "we are now on double probation."
The state allowed Funk to hire a former law partner to represent him in this public records battle.
Billing records show that, so far, his effort to keep this information secret has cost taxpayers more than $25,000.
Chancellor Myles appears to have allowed Funk's office to redact even any mention of the term "NCIC" — a publicly known acronym for the National Crime Information Center that tracks criminal histories — and other related references.
She also rejected NewsChannel 5's request to require Funk to pay the station's legal fees for failing to produce the requested records.
NewsChannel 5 has filed a notice of appeal.
Related stories:
Tennessee AG opens criminal investigation of Nashville DA Glenn Funk's office
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents descend upon Nashville DA offices
Search of Nashville DA's offices was based on warrant - not 'invitation'
TBI raid included Nashville DA Glenn Funk's office, computers and briefcase, search documents reveal
Previous stories:
NC5 Investigates: The DA's Deals
Do you have information for our investigation? Email us: investigate@newschannel5.com