FBI settles legal challenge over Covenant shooter's manifesto

By Kim Jarrett
The Center Square

The FBI has settled litigation with a Tennessee newspaper over its previous refusal to release the manifesto written by the perpetrator of the March 2023 shooting at Covenant School.

The Tennessee Star and others sued the FBI for the release of Audrey Elizabeth Hale's manifesto after the agency denied it during the Biden administration. Hale, a female who identified as a male, killed three children and three staff members in the shooting at the Nashville school before being shot and killed by responding officers.

Settlement negotiations over the release began after FBI Director Kash Patel took over the agency, according to the Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty.

The FBI released 120 pages of Hale's writing in April. As part of the lawsuit settlement, the agency will pay $86,000 in legal fees to the law firm.

“Journalists everywhere should be willing to go to the mat to hold their government accountable, regardless of the story or who is in charge at the nation’s capital," said Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO, editor-in-chief, and majority owner of Star News Digital Media. "We appreciate WILL for taking our case and fighting back against the Biden administration’s reckless and dangerous record retention policies.”

Matt Kittle, an investigative reporter with The Federalist, was also a plaintiff in the law firm's suit.

“This settlement is a win for government transparency and efforts by real journalists to keep their government open and accountable," said Dan Lennington, deputy counsel for the law firm.