Duke loses initial bid to block access to his records
Long-time racist David Duke has struck out in his initial attempt to block access to his communications leading up to last August鈥檚 deadly Unite the Right rally in Virginia.
Acting as his own attorney, Duke听filed a motion听in late February asking a federal judge to quash a subpoena filed by plaintiffs in a U.S. District Court lawsuit, one of two filed in the听aftermath听of the rally in Charlottesville.
The plaintiffs are demanding Duke turn over听all his text messages, emails, Facebook messages, tweets, direct messages on Twitter and messages on Discord involving the rally.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel C. Hoppe denied Duke鈥檚 motion to quash the request, saying he filed it in the wrong district.听听
The subpoena for the records was served on Duke in late January at his residence in Mandeville, Louisiana.听听Therefore, the judge ruled, Duke鈥檚 motion opposing the subpoena should be filed in that federal jurisdiction.
The plaintiffs opposed Duke鈥檚 motion, claiming not only that it was filed in the wrong federal district court, but that his objections were untimely and that they are meritless.
鈥淭he Court declines to consider the motion鈥檚 timeliness or to reach the merits of the parities鈥� dispute because [court rules] expressly and unambiguously instructs that 鈥榯he court for the district where compliance is required鈥� has primary authority over all subpoena-related motions,鈥� the judge said in a four-page order filed on Friday.
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