The U.S. Department of Justice moved on Wednesday to halt its effort to revive seven felony wiretapping charges against Florida-based journalist Tim Burke, who exposed unaired antisemitic remarks by the musician Kanye West, who goes by Ye.
Burke was arrested in 2024 after publishing unused portions of a Fox News interview with West on the “Tucker Carlson Tonight” show, in which the musician repeated antisemitic conspiracy theories. Burke claimed to have found the clips on public websites used by the news agency for uploading live streams.
He was charged with one count of conspiracy, six counts of accessing a protected computer without authorization and seven counts of intercepting or disclosing wire, oral or electronic communications.
The government’s one-page motion asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to dismiss its appeal. If the court grants the motion, it will leave intact a September 2025 ruling that rejected the Wiretap Act charges. The trial judge found that prosecutors had interpreted the federal law too broadly.
Other charges against Burke, including alleged violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, remain pending.
“Prosecutors were right to drop their appeal of the Wiretap Act counts, but they’re wrong to continue to pursue other charges to punish a journalist who exposed antisemitism,” stated Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
He called on the Justice Department to drop the remaining charges.
