A former news editor who was criminally charged last year with breaking into an online computer system used by Fox News and other broadcasters was also suspected of compromising a system used by political affairs broadcaster FedNet four years ago, The Desk has learned.

The editor, Timothy Burke, was sent a cease-and-desist order in mid-2021 after officials at FedNet discovered he was allegedly downloading material from a computer system used for video transmissions and storage related to their main television channel.

Burke allegedly access FedNet material without authorization from the broadcaster over a four-month period that started in December 2020 before the network caught wind of his activities. Officials at FedNet linked Burke to the activity after reviewing activity logs associated with their servers and discovering an Internet Protocol (IP) address that was connected to Burke’s computers.

The incident involving FedNet has not been previously reported. Burke was not charged with a crime in the matter, and it isn’t clear whether anyone at FedNet sought assistance from law enforcement during their investigation.

The FedNet incident was revealed in a draft subpoena written by Michael Maddux, one of Burke’s criminal defense attorneys, as part of Burke’s ongoing criminal case involving the theft and unauthorized disclosure of Fox News video feeds. The Desk obtained a copy of the draft subpoena earlier this week.

Last year, Burke was charged with more than a dozen criminal counts of computer trespass, wiretapping and conspiracy after federal prosecutors say he illegally used a username and password to access an online video system used by Fox News Media, where he surreptitiously recorded — and later leaked — a number of news clips that were never broadcast.

Burke does not dispute obtaining the clips, some of which were later published by Media Matters for America and Vice News. His lawyers claim he was acting as a journalist, and that the videos were accessible to anyone who knew a specific web address.

Prosecutors tell a different story: They say Burke worked with another man, Marco Gaudino, to scour the Internet for usernames and passwords that granted them online access to systems used by broadcasters and sports leagues.

Some of the passwords were contained in marketing materials that were intended for use by authorized representatives of TV outlets, while others were accidentally published online.

After a court hearing last year, Burke’s other criminal defense attorney Mark Rasch disputed Burke and Gaudino knew each other.

“Tim Burke has never met the man and doesn’t know him at all,” Rasch told the Tampa Bay Times.

But Maddux identified Gaudino by name in a handful of draft subpoenas that sought information about Burke’s alleged activities, The Desk can confirm. The draft subpoenas indicate that Burke and Gaudino had at least a cursory level of online interactions around the time that Burke began accessing and recording the Fox News video feeds.

Gaudino accepted a plea agreement last year and was sentenced to home detention and probation last month. As part of the agreement, Gaudino agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors and law enforcement investigators, and he is expected to testify against Burke if the case goes to trial.

The cache of draft subpoenas written by Maddux — none of which have been formally filed — identify a number of companies as potential victims, some of whom were previously unknown. Those others victims include sports network ESPN, cable news channel MSNBC, television broadcaster Hearst Communications and online video repository and media monitoring service TVEyes.

A number of other victims listed in the subpoenas and other court records include CBS Radio affiliate WGNS Radio, online video transmission service LiveU, the National Basketball Association and CBS Broadcasting, all of whom were previously identified by The Desk. In a story published last year, The Desk was the first to identify the website of WGNS Radio where Burke and Gaudino located the password that allowed them to access LiveU, the system used by Fox News and other broadcasters for real-time video transmissions. Burke’s legal defense team later identified WGNS as the source of the password found by Gaudino and LiveU as the online system used by Burke.

Maddux also drafted subpoenas that would have sought attorney-client communications between broadcasters and law firms that were hired to track down the source of the leaked Fox News clips, and to provide information to federal law enforcement as part of their cases against Burke and Gaudino.

Last month, prosecutors asked a judge overseeing Burke’s case to block certain requests made by the legal defense team, saying some of the requests — including the demand for confidential communications involving law firms — went beyond the scope of entitlement. A law firm retained by four of the victims also objected to the issuance of subpoenas seeking confidential information.

Earlier this week, U.S. District Magistrate Judge Thomas Wilson blocked the subpoenas, saying Burke’s attorneys admitted at an earlier hearing that the request was “overbroad” and that they couldn’t prove why they were “entitled to these wide-reaching types of information identified in each subpoena.”

Burke’s criminal trial was expected to begin later this month, but has been delayed to October.

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Read more:

• Trial of suspected Fox News video leaker pushed to October
• Fox Leaks co-conspirator Marco Gaudino gets house arrest, probation
• Lawyer for Fox News leaker says AI to blame for errors in court filing
• Judge scolds defense attorneys in Fox News leaks case
• Ex-Deadspin editor Tim Burke loses bid to have criminal case dismissed
• Florida journalist used CBS News password to access Fox News feeds