DOJ Drops Appeal Over Wiretap Charges Linked to Kanye West Interview

The US Justice Department has moved to drop its appeal of a court order dismissing wiretap charges against journalist Timothy Burke, who was accused of obtaining and publishing unaired portions of Tucker Carlson’s interview with rapper Kanye West.

 

The motion to dismiss the appeal was filed on Wednesday in the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The filing gave no reason for the decision, but the government had previously said it would seek to dismiss the appeal if the solicitor general declined to authorise it.

 

The Justice Department filed its notice of appeal in November but repeatedly sought additional time to submit its opening brief. Its most recent request, filed in July, said the process of obtaining approval from the solicitor general had taken longer than expected and involved “novel and complex” legal issues.

 

A US District Court for the Middle District of Florida had dismissed seven Wiretap Act charges against Burke without prejudice, finding that two statutory exceptions were elements of the alleged offence.

 

One exception applies where a defendant is a “party to the communication” he is accused of intercepting. The other concerns communications that are “readily accessible to the general public”.

 

Because the dismissal was without prejudice, prosecutors could still seek a superseding indictment that attempts to plead the exceptions as elements of the offences. They could also proceed solely with the remaining charges brought under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), or abandon the case altogether.

 

A CFAA violation generally carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison. Where the violation is committed in furtherance of another criminal offence, such as a Wiretap Act violation, the maximum potential sentence rises to five years.

 

Prosecutors have alleged that Burke, an independent journalist, violated the Wiretap Act by using “compromised credentials” to obtain access to unaired portions of Carlson’s 2022 interview with West, during which the rapper made antisemitic conspiracy claims.

 

Burke has denied wrongdoing and said the credentials that enabled access to the unencrypted web addresses hosting the unaired transmissions had been posted on a public-facing website.

 

He was also accused of using credentials found online to access a File Transfer Protocol website used by the NBA, as part of his work as a consultant for companies producing video content for NBA teams.

 

“Perhaps most disturbing is the DOJ’s use of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a vague, ambiguous law that would criminalise routine journalism if the government had its way,” Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement.

 

“The DOJ should not stop with dismissing this appeal. It must drop all of the charges against Tim Burke.”

 

The Freedom of the Press Foundation and a coalition of press freedom organisations had filed an amicus brief supporting Burke’s motion to dismiss the Wiretap Act charges.

 

The case is United States v. Burke, US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, No. 25-13969, motion filed September 9, 2026.