NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — For weeks, an on-going NewsChannel 5 investigation has raised questions about potential misconduct inside Nashville DA Glenn Funk's office.
Is the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the state's premier law enforcement agency, taking notice?
Citing the need "in certain, rare instances" to not comment to protect "the integrity of TBI's investigative process," a bureau spokesperson refused to say.
"While we appreciate and respect the public interest in matters such as this, the integrity of TBI’s investigative process is of the highest importance," TBI spokesperson Josh Devine said in an email statement.
"In certain, rare instances, it is our agency’s position that confirming or denying the existence of a TBI investigation could potentially limit our capacity to fully gather any and all relevant evidence and interview potential witnesses, to the detriment of the potential outcome of any investigation.
"Our agency will fully review any information and evidence presented to us in accordance with state law. These reviews may or may not result in formal TBI investigations. For these reasons, and to preserve the overall integrity of our agency’s work, we are not able to provide information about our involvement in this matter."
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti's office, which has the authority to prosecute district attorneys, acknowledged the concerns.
"We are aware of the allegations and take them very seriously," press secretary Elizabeth Lane said in a separate email statement.
Beginning in November, our NewsChannel 5 investigation discovered a part-time employee who Funk had paid $75,000 a year with little evidence of the work he did for that money. In some cases, emails and his calendar did not match the timesheets he submitted.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates also raised questions about employees of the DA's office working on Funk's re-election campaign, taking time off from work only after we began asking questions. In one case, a set of leave documents appeared to have been altered.
Photos and emails later raised new questions about those allegations.
In December, NewsChannel 5 revealed that state and Metro auditors planned to review the questions raised by our investigation.
More recently, our investigation uncovered evidence that listening devices were placed in areas around the DA's office where individuals' conversations could be monitored and recorded without consent.
In each case, Funk's team has insisted it did nothing wrong.
Do you have information for our investigation? Email us: investigate@newschannel5.com
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