Attorneys for Star News Digital Media Inc., the parent company of The Tennessee Star, asked a federal judge to order the Federal Bureau of Investigation to respond to a motion for limited discovery as part of a nationally watched public records lawsuit.
Star News Digital Media Inc. filed the lawsuit in May, demanding the FBI release the manifesto and related writings of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the Covenant School killer.
Earlier this month, attorneys for Star News Digital Media Inc., filed the motion after the leak of three pages of Hale’s writings. The motion asserts the leak proves, “assuming the three pages’ authenticity,” that the FBI “could have selectively released” redacted portions of the manifesto without jeopardizing ongoing investigations.
In its response, the FBI again refused to confirm the authenticity of Hale’s racially charged writings, asking U.S. District Court Judge Aleta A. Trauger to reject limited discovery. The agency insisted, “Plaintiffs seek extraordinary and unprecedented discovery.”
The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, the Milwaukee-based public interest law firm representing Star News Digital Media Inc. in the Freedom of Information Act case, fired back in a filing Tuesday.
“This Court should order FBI to respond to limited discovery in a shortened period,” the memorandum states. “At a minimum, this Court should take judicial notice of the Police Chief’s statement and permit Plaintiffs to file a short supplemental brief explaining how these pages help establish that Plaintiffs are entitled to summary judgment.”
The FBI has yet to confirm the authenticity of the manifesto pages shared online, but the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) has confirmed they are Hale’s writings. Before that admission, The Star was among the first outlets to independently verify the pages were part of Hale’s manifesto.
Hale, the 28-year-old biological woman who identified as a transgender male, in late March fatally shot six people — three 9-year-old students and three staff members — at the private Christian elementary school. Hale was shot and killed by responding police officers.
The FBI and the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) have refused to turn over Hale’s manifesto and related writings, insisting there is an “ongoing investigation.” MNPD officials have said that Hale was the only suspect.
Earlier this month, conservative comedian and pundit Steven Crowder published three images of pages from Hale’s writings, some of which include racist tirades. Hale, who was white and identified as a man named Aiden, on one page, wrote, “Wanna kill all you little crackers!! Bunch of little f****ts w/your white privlages [sic].”
In a July filing, the FBI argued that releasing even one page of Hale’s manifesto would jeopardize “active and ongoing” investigations related to “potential federal crimes, which could include whether underlying bias provided motivation in the attack, or if any co-conspirators or like-minded contacts were involved.”
But MNPD Assistant Chief Mike Hagar previously said in a declaration that releasing redacted versions of Hale’s manifesto would not hurt the investigation.
Metro Law Director Wally Dietz has since insisted that a judge’s order precludes MNPD from releasing the manifesto until the public records lawsuits are settled.
“The authenticity of the leaked Manifesto pages is an issue of material fact, so limited discovery is justified,” Tuesday’s court filing states. “First, if authentic, the leaked pages help establish that FBI could have released at least a redacted version of the Manifesto without hindering an ongoing investigation. Second, if authentic, the leak placed pages from the Manifesto into the public domain. Assuming their public availability has caused harm, FBI’s silence will not patch the leak.”
It’s not clear when Trauger will act. The federal judge has not made a ruling in the lawsuit since July.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
