Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed a criminal search warrant against the Florida home of a former video journalist this week.
The raid was conducted Monday morning around 6 a.m. local time (3 a.m. Pacific Time) and is related to a criminal investigation against Timothy Burke, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the matter.
Burke runs his own communications firm after spending several years in various video-related roles at different news organizations, including Gawker, Abrams Media, Deadspin and the Daily Beast.
According to a report by the Tampa Bay Times, federal agents seized various personal computers and related devices, as well as electronics that are used by Burke for his media business.
A reporter for the Tampa Bay Times said agents wouldn’t confirm which agency they were associated with or why they were at Burke’s home. Burke later told the newspaper that a search warrant named him as the target of a law enforcement investigation; the newspaper said Burke refused to provide a copy of the warrant to them.
Burke is married to Tampa Bay city council member Lynne Hurtak, who lives at the same home where the raid occurred. Hurtak referred reporter questions to her husband.
A law enforcement source confirmed to The Desk that Hurtak is not part of the FBI’s criminal probe, but declined to provide specific information on the nature of the agency’s investigation into Burke. An entry into the federal court docket in the district where Burke lives showed the search warrant was sealed by a judge after it was approved.
