This post originally appeared at https://thestarnewsnetwork.com/2025/04/09/department-of-justice-nashville-police-left-in-dark-on-covenant-killer-manifesto-release-to-third-party-amid-lawsuit-fbi-silence-2/

The Department of Justice and Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) both indicated to The Tennessee Star on Tuesday that they were unaware of the FBI’s decision to conditionally release the 1,299 pages of writings left by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender man when she killed six at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023, to independent journalist Megyn Kelly last week.

Kelly on Monday stated that the FBI provided the killer’s writings to her with permission to analyze and report their contents over the weekend but that her team was restricted from publishing the materials in their entirety. Excerpts shared by Kelly appear to match the killer’s 2023 manifesto, which The Star legally obtained last June and published in September 2024.

Both Star News Digital Media, Inc. (SNDM), which owns and operates The Star, and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy sued the FBI in May 2023 to compel the agency to release Hale’s writings. The lawsuit was filed after the agency declined to comply with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request The Star filed for the writings under the leadership of former FBI Director Christopher Wray.

In the wake of the FBI’s decision to release Hale’s writings despite claiming in court that such a release would jeopardize its ongoing investigations, attorney Dan Lennington at the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, who represents Leahy and SNDM in the federal lawsuit, requested an immediate explanation on Monday from the Department of Justice (DOJ), which represents the FBI in the lawsuit.

Lennington also told the DOJ that a recent settlement offer extended by Leahy and SNDM, which would have seen the lawsuit dropped in exchange for FBI Director Kash Patel dropping his agency’s opposition to releasing Hale’s writings, as he suggested he would during a December 2023 interview, may be off the table.

His counterpart at the DOJ on Tuesday claimed to have no knowledge of the FBI’s decision to release the materials to Kelly.

“I am not aware of the records that your clients requested being released, but I am looking into it,” wrote the DOJ attorney, before suggesting a full release of Hale’s writings to The Star could be forthcoming after the conditional release to Kelly.

The DOJ attorney confirmed, “If the records that your clients requested were released by DOJ, I would of course provide them to you and inform the Court.”

In addition to the federal lawsuit against the FBI, Leahy, and SNDM are plaintiffs in the state lawsuit seeking to compel MNPD to release Hale’s writings. MNPD previously argued it could not release the killer’s writings until after it concluded its investigation, and following that conclusion earlier this month, a department spokesman told The Star its hands were tied unless the Tennessee Court of Appeals reverses Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles’s July 4, 2024 decision, which prohibited the release of Hale’s writings.

MNPD Public Affairs Director Don Aaron did not respond directly when asked on Tuesday whether the FBI informed the department of its plans to release the documents to Kelly or whether local authorities objected to such a release.

“I did not see the Megyn Kelly program,” said Aaron. “In any event, you will need to call the FBI or Department of Justice.”

It remains unclear who consented to the conditional release of the killer’s writings to Kelly, as the FBI directed The Star to the DOJ in response to a Monday press inquiry.

Within the federal court case, the killer’s writings have been sequestered by U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger, who, about a year ago, began a private review of the documents in order to determine which might be released to The Star for public dissemination.

– – –

Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to pappert.tom@proton.me.

The post Department of Justice, Nashville Police Left in Dark on Covenant Killer Manifesto Release to Third Party amid Lawsuit, FBI Silence first appeared on The Star News Network.