Judge forces FBI to hand over Hulk Hogan sex tape after Gawker wins lawsuit

Hogan had sued Gawker after it published some parts of the sex tape in 2012

A federal judge has ordered the FBI to turn over the evidence related to Hulk Hogan’s sex tape. Gawker sued the FBI after it refused a Freedom of Information Act request for the evidence, which could find its way into Hogan’s invasion of privacy suit against the gossip site. Hogan sued Gawker after it published parts of the sex tape in 2012.

According to documents, Hogan’s lawyer contacted the FBI. The U.S. attorney’s office decided not to prosecute anyone, but the FBI accumulated lots of evidence related to the tape. In 2013, Gawker filed an FOIA request with the FBI for the evidence and planned to use it in its defence against Hogan. The judge in Tampa on Wednesday ordered the bureau to release that evidence.

On Tuesday, before the hearing, the New York Observer reported on the most interesting of the documents released in filings from the FBI side in that suit a few weeks ago. The big one was a letter from the FBI to David Houston, Hogan's attorney, which stated that the evidence the FBI had collected included:

* Settlement agreements and a transfer of copyrights.* A check for $150,000 from Houston's firm made out to Hollywood attorney Keith Davidson.* A black DVD case containing three DVD-R discs, which are labelled "Hogan 7-13-07," "Hootie 7-13-07," and "Hootie." Per the Observer article, "Hootie" was a nickname that Todd "Bubba the Love Sponge" Clem, Heather's then-husband, used for Hogan, then one of his best friends.