TAMPA, Fla. — Timothy Burke, a well-known Tampa journalist and media consultant facing federal conspiracy charges made his second court appearance Monday as his lawyer maintains he did nothing but “good journalism.”
Burke appeared at a federal courthouse in Tampa on Monday. His arraignment on fourteen federal charges including conspiracy and wiretapping was extended for two weeks.
“Mr. Burke is not a criminal. He’s just a person attempting to do good journalism,” Burke’s attorney Michael Maddux said. “We're taking our time getting things launched in the case. And I mean, it's an important case. It's a case of paramount concern to journalists all across the country.”
Burke and an unnamed co-conspirator are accused of hacking into video servers to obtain and publish videos, including outtakes from an interview between former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.
His lawyers argue Burke didn’t break any laws to obtain the footage and that he’s protected by the First Amendment to publish the recordings.
“There are some limitations on what we can say in the case now, but moving forward as more is revealed, it will certainly show that nothing was done that was criminal in this case,” Maddux added.
In May of last year, FBI agents raided Burke’s Tampa home, which he shares with his wife, Tampa City Councilwoman Lynn Hurtak. The ACLU and other First Amendment rights organizations have since voiced their concerns with the raid.
Maddux says the seizure of Burke’s computers, equipment and data has hindered his ability to generate an income and continue his work.
“It's a lifetime of work and you just don't rebuild it in 10 months, especially not with all of your equipment taken,” Maddux added.
If convicted, Burke would face more than 60 years in federal prison. Maddux says the case could have a chilling effect on the First Amendment and the future of journalism.
“This [case] is about whether or not when you're using the internet in an open public space and finding things and information about important people that they may not want known but that's the truth and if you publish it that you're getting in trouble for that, that's what this case is going to come down to,” Maddux explained. “We're going to show Mr. Burke absolutely shouldn't be in trouble and should be allowed to go pursue his journalism permanently and in the future.”
Burke is out on bond and will be back in court at the end of March.