Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) release of the 1,299 pages of writings left by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale to independent journalist Megyn Kelly may have legal ramifications as a case brought by The Star’s parent company regarding the materials continues to be litigated in federal court.
Star News Digital Media, Inc. (SNDM), which owns and operates The Star, and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy sued the FBI in May 2023 to compel the agency to release Hale’s writings.
U.S. District Court Judge Aleta A. Trauger has been reviewing Hale’s writings in camera since April 2024 in the case brought by SNDM.
Despite claiming in court that such a release of Hale’s writings would jeopardize its ongoing investigations, Kelly on Monday revealed that the FBI provided the killer’s writings to her with permission to analyze and report their contents but that her team was restricted from publishing the materials in their entirety,
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) told The Star that it had no knowledge of the FBI’s decision to release the materials to Kelly but suggested that a full release of the killer’s writings to The Star could be forthcoming after the conditional release to a third party.
Pappert said he believes The Star will obtain Hale’s writings once Judge Trauger is informed of the FBI’s release of the documents to a third party.
“I think this was a big screw up, because I have a hunch that once the federal judge gets wind of this, she’s going to want answers and this could end up resulting in the Tennessee Star getting and publishing the full 1300 pages,” Pappert said on Tuesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Pappert said that the FBI’s release of the documents to Kelly makes the agency’s argument that such a release would jeopardize investigations “moot.”
“I see no other way a judge could look at the case. They went before her for two years and said, ‘You can’t release this, it’s too important.’ Then, they released it. So what’s the argument? By the way, if I were that judge, I would be a little bit insulted,” Pappert said.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
