‘Emmy-winning producer James Gordon Meek had his home raided by the FBI. His colleagues says they haven’t seen him since,’ writes a recent Rolling Stone report about an American reporter’s mysterious disappearance. Though some details remain murky, in this clip, Glenn explains everything we know so far. This is something 'I've never seen before in America,' Glenn says, and it raises several PRESSING questions: Could the FBI possibly be involved in this? Where is Meek, and why have no friends or family publicly expressed concern? What was on his laptop, and why did one of his colleagues refuse to answer Rolling Stone’s questions…?
TranscriptBelow is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: Yeah, there's a couple of stories out that are quite disturbing. I think I'm going to start with this one and I want to read it verbatim. It's from Rolling Stone magazine, something I don't usually go to for all my facts and figures.
STU: Nor anything else.
GLENN: Or anything else. This is a really disturbing story and usually the Rolling Stone magazine is on the left. For them to bring this story to light is quite remarkable. A minute before 5:00 a.m. April 27, ABC news journalist James Gordon meek fired off a single tweet with a single word: Facts. The network's national security investigative producer was responding to a former CIA agent and they take that the Ukrainian military with assistant from the U.S. was thriving with Russian sources. This agent's tweet filled with acronyms indecipherable to the lay person like TTP, UW and EW, was itself a reply to a missive from Washington Post pentagon reporter who noted the wealth of information the U.S. military had gathered about Russian opts just by observing their combat strategy in real time. The interchange illustrated the interplay between the National Security community and those who cover it. And no one straddled both worlds quite like ABC news Meek. He was an Emmy winning deep dive journalist who was a former senior counter terrorism adviser and investigator for the house homeland security commission. His detractors within ABC, Meek was something of a military fan boy but his track record of exclusives was undeniable. Breaking the how tos of foiled terrorist plots in New York City and the army's cover up of the fratricidal death of private first class David Sherit in Iraq. A bomb shell that earned Meek a face to face meeting with President Obama. With nine years at ABC under his belt, a buzzy Hulu documentary poised for Emmy attention, and an upcoming book on the military's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the 52 year old journalist seemed to be at the height of his powers and the pinnacle of his profession. But outside his Arlington Virginia, apartment, a surreal scene was unfolding and his storied career was about to come crashing down. Meek's tweet marked the last time he posted on Twitter. The first thing Meek's neighbor, John Antonelli noticed that morning was a black utility vehicle with blacked out windows blocking traffic in both directions on Columbus Pike. It was just before dawn on that brisk April day and self described police vehicle historian Antonelli was about to grab a coffee at Starbucks before embarking on his daily three mile walk. He inched closer to get a better vantage and when he saw an olive green Lenco BearCat G2 an armored tactical vehicle often employed by the FBI among other law enforcement agencies, a few Arlington County cruisers surrounded the jaw dropping scene. But all of the other vehicles were unmarked, including the BearCat. Antonelli accounted at least ten heavily armed personnel in the group. None wore anything identifying which agency was conducting the raid. Just after ten minutes the operation inside the se in a Park apartment complex, a six story upscale building for D.C. professionals, was over. They didn't stick around. They took off pretty quickly and headed west toward Fairfax County. Most people seeing that green vehicle will think it's some sort of a tank, but I knew it was a Lenco BearCat. It's a vehicle design to jump out of so you do a raid in a quick amount of time and it can return fire if they're being fired upon. Multiple sources familiar with the matter say Meek was the target of an FBI raid at the sienna Park apartments where he had been living on the top floor for more than a decade. An FBI representative told Rolling Stone its agents were present at the morning of April 27 at that block, but they could not comment further due to an ongoing investigation. Meek has not been charged with a crime, but independent observers believe the raid was among the first and quite possibly the first to be carried out on a journalist by the Biden administration. A federal magistrate Judge in the Virginia eastern district court signed off on a search warrant that day before the raid. If the raid was for Meek's records U.S. deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco would have had to give her blessing, a new policy enacted last year prohibits federal a prosecutors from seizing journalist's documents. Any inception requires the deputy AG's approval. They said, to my knowledge, there hasn't been any case since January 2021. In the raid's aftermath, Meek has made himself scarce. Now that the first time, this story takes a turn now and I'm not sure what we're getting here. In the raid's after math Meek has made himself scarce. None of his Sienna Park neighbors with whom rolling stone spoke with, have seen him since. With his apartment now appearing to be vacant. Sienna Park management declined to confirm that their long time tenant was gone, citing privacy policies. Okay. Similarly, you know, several ABC news colleague whose are accustomed to unraveling mysteries and cracking investigative stories tell Rolling Stones they have no idea what happened to Meek. He just fell off the face of the earth. And when people are asked, no one knows the answer. ABC representatives tell Rolling Stone yeah, he resigned abruptly and he hasn't worked for us for month. Really? Sources familiar with the matter say federal agents allegedly found classified information on Meek's laptop during their raid. One investigative journalist who worked with Meet meek says it would be highly unusual for a reporter or a producer to keep any classified information on his computer. So now, what happened to him? He hasn't been seen since April. This story goes on to, I don't know, it just gets fuzzy at the end. Let me read you the last uh, last paragraph. It is unclear what story, if any, would have put Meek in the FBI crosshairs. Meek worked on extremely sensitive topics from high profile terrorists in America, and Americans held abroad and the exploits of Eric Prince, the founder of the military contractor Blackwater, in. In recent years some of Meek's highest profile reporting delved into an ambush by isos, left four American green berets dead. ABC adapted the story in a feature length documentary which debuted last year on Veterans Day on Hulu. Okay. Is anyone, A, do we live now in Russia? The FBI is completely and totally out of control. A Emmy award winning journalist tweets facts and then is whisked away into, we don't know if it's the FBI, into black vans where no one is wearing identification on their flack jacket. Now, this sticks out to me because last night I talked to one of the guys swept up by the FBI. Remember, the father of 11, he was on my show last night. And I said, you know, how did it happen? He said they were pounding on the doors, pounding on the windows. He said I opened the window to see what was going on. They had guns pointed at the front door. I went to the door and I said I'm opening the door now. I asked them for identification and the FBI guy pointed to his chest with a little velcro thing that said FBI and he said that's your identification. Now that's disturbing in the first place. But these guys didn't have any markings. Why? And where is this guy? And why isn't, why isn't the world of ABC on fire. Where are the journalists? If Donald Trump had anyone in a gray sedan, nut eve an black van, a gray sedan, an old one, from the 60s, and an old lady got out and said hey, I'm with the Trump administration and I just like to ask you about an article, they would have been screaming to high heaven. Now we have a FBI that is completely out of control. And they pick up a journalist in April. We're just hearing it about it now?
STU: That might be the most disturbing part of the story, the fact that a journalist could be taken out of their home in a raid by the government, and no one, no journalist reports it? No one's tweeting about it? There's no discussions for six months?
GLENN: Yeah. And by the way, his partner who worked with him on the documentary that they produced, he told Rolling Stone I'm a nut commenting on this story. And then hung up. This is not good, America. This is not good. The fear and the madness has got to stop. We must end it November 8 we must end it November 8. I don't think America, I don't know, I don't want mainstream media anymore so I don't know what everybody else is saying, I don't even listen to other talk radio shows, I don't listen to anything. I don't know what warnings you're getting elsewhere, but if you're not hearing an urgent warning on the loss of your country, our Bill of Rights, your freedom, and your economic freedom, you're listening to the wrong people. This is very disturbing and when we come back I'll try to tell you about the other story that I don't think even legally I can. It's a fun world, in a minute. Am I overreacting to these things? Am I looking at all of these pieces and at any time are you going Glenn, Glenn, Glenn relax.
STU: I don't think lot of people are feeling the same way you are.
GLENN: Okay.
STU: I do. Again, we don't know.
GLENN: Don't know the story.
STU: We might find out there's an explanation for this, there's an anecdote in there where one of his coworkers said he called me up and had all sorts of real problems in his life and had to pull out of the project.
GLENN: Which bothered me because it lead you to believe that he might be suicidal.
STU: Right. No, I know.
GLENN: That doesn't help that story.
STU: But it could be, that's true. But that's just one element of a million stories we've done over the past couple of months that make you think there are massive problems going on.
GLENN: Somebody disappears from April until October and you don't find a body and nobody is doing a man hunt? Nobody's even talking about this story. How is that possible.
STU: How is it possible? How is the media for forget the government actually doing it, which would be incredibly disturbing, but why, where are this guy's friends, this guy's associates, the people who he depended o who depended on him. Why weren't they out telling the story four or five months ago.
GLENN: Let me do the commercial here. It's American Financing. We are in, it's really weirds right now with an exception of inflation, when you look at the loan rate, we're about 5%. Historically, verify this, if you can, that's like a pretty low rate.
STU: Yeah.
GLENN: If you go back 40 years, 30 years, that's a low rate. So we are historically at a really pretty good rate. Average, maybe six percent, seven percent, but we're looking at 5% and going this is insane. No. The world went insane after the crash in 08. The world went insane. That wasn't normal. Now, the extra whammy is how much you have to pay for everything because of inflation. American Financial is there to help you. If you are trying to buy a new house, they can help you get the best loan. If you are struggling your credit cards they may be able to help you. Please call them for a financial review, it's free, it's no strings attached. It will take you about ten minutes. American Financing,800 906 2440 AmericanFinancing.net. Ten second station ID. >> This is the Blaze Radio Network. Listen at home, at work, and in the car. Find out how at the blaze.com/radio.
GLENN: Welcome to the this is amazing. Simon Schuster, I'm just reading this some more. He co authored Americans Who Undertook One Last Mission: An Honored Promise in Afghanistan, when he coauthored with lieutenant Scott Mann, a retired green beret. Meek even featured a picture of the soon published book in his bio on social media. Post April 27, the book jacket photo disappeared from his bio and Simon Schuster scrubbed his name from all of the press materials. The first sentence of the jacket previously read in April, ABC news correspondent James Gordon not got an urgent call from a special forces op rater serving overseas. Now it says in April an urgent call was made from a special forces operation serving overseas. Why is he being erased? Why is he being erased? Welcome to 1982, gang. Back in a minute. >> The Glenn Beck Program.
GLENN: Every day is different. Every day is like, every week is like a decade. It's moving so quickly and I just want you to know that we're going to be fine and there are things that you can do and we can do that are really important. One of the things you is to have people watching your back while you're busy doing things. On line, no one can prevent identity theft but it is a real problem especially if we're getting into a digital war with somebody like rush a. Life lick log protect what's yours save 25%, life lock dot com, Life Lock.com promo code Beck or 1 800 LifeLock 1 800 LifeLock, promo code Beck at LifeLock.com.
STU: All the best election coverage at blaze TV dot com/Glenn use the promo code Glenn to save yourself 10 bucks. >> This is the Blaze Radio Network, truth lives here.
GLENN: Welcome to the Glenn program. My staff is reaching out to the FCC to have a conversation about something that I will, I will delay a day and see what, see what my team I need to tell you this story, but I don't think legally I can and I want to, I want you to hear the story the gloves have to come off and I think our attorneys and the FCC need to be involved before I move forward. If not, well then we'll tell you the story in another way. But the gloves need to come off and I want some answers. So we'll get to the second story I was telling you that I'm not sure I can tell you on the air, we'll give you an update hopefully tomorrow maybe tomorrow we'll tell you the story.
STU: A weird time to do a radio show.
GLENN: I've never dealt with this.
STU: Yeah.
GLENN: You've been in it for 22 years, 24?
STU: 24.
GLENN: 24 years? I've been doing this for 45. Nothing like this ever. Ever. People need to understand that. When you listen to people like Joe Rogan or Dave ruin or any really good podcasters, that podcast. They haven't seen broadcast. So they don't know the standards that we've always had to live up to and they were without question. We never even got close to the those things. You never had when you have media experience and you're not one of the club or the cult, when you have that and you see how much things have changed and I mean, it's remarkable. And how fast it is changing. We are talking about this story from Rolling Stone and Stu and I were talking about it off the air and I think we should talk about it more. ABC news producer's home raided by FBI. This is from the Rolling Stone. Why is this only in the Rolling Stone. Emmy award winning producer James Gordon Meek had his home raided by the FBI, this is back in April. Colleagues say they haven't seen him since. The neighbors haven't seen him since. His home is now just vacant. It rooks like it's empty. What happened? Where is he? Is there a missing persons report out on him? Is there anybody in his life? Why doesn't the story quote anyone from his family? Now, maybe, maybe because you know, the one guy he was his director and producer on a film that they were working on that they won the Emmy for, when Rolling Stone contacted him about hey, where is he? What happened? Was I'm not commenting on this story and hung up the phone his colleagues, investigative journalists at ABC, have no idea what happened to him. He was just picked up at 5:00 in the morning after he tweeted Facts, that was his last tweet, and then gone. Now, in reading the story, and I can't explain this other than a feeling because the story kind of changes halfway through. It makes this incredible charge. Now, either Rolling Stone, which is possible, Rolling Stone has something and they're hyping it up, but why would they do that? So they're making it look like this is something cloak and dagger, you know, the FBI, that maybe because they don't like the FBI? Good. Stand in line. Maybe it's because that the way that doesn't make sense in today's world where journalists are supposed to love the FBI.
STU: Certainly Rolling Stone is left wing, but they also have, they have a strain of, I don't know, the intercept; right? A sort of anti
GLENN: Military.
STU: Military, anti law enforcement strain to their reporting that you could see them being critical even when a democrat is in office. We should also point out, to be fair, Rolling Stone does not have the best record when it comes to telling factual stories.
GLENN: True, true.
STU: They have had massive payouts they've had to make. If I remember right they were one of the ones, weren't they the Virginia case
GLENN: Yeah, they were.
STU: Where they basically a
GLENN: Accused this teen of rape.
STU: Accused of rape and it was a big scandal and then the whole thing fell apart.
GLENN: Correct.
STU: So they've had many, many issues over the years.
GLENN: Okay. But here's the thing. In the first part of the story they make it, they lead you to believe that he's gone. He's just gone. Nobody's seen him. I mean, they say that. Nobody has seen him. No one knows where he is. The last time anyone saw him way the morning of the FBI raid. This is in April. But then the next paragraph in the raid's aftermath, Meek has made himself scarce. Now that not making yourself scarce.
STU: Yeah.
GLENN: That means you've made yourself invisible. You've fallen off the map.
STU: I think the accusation is that he didn't make himself anything. The point is he was made by outside forces to be invisible.
GLENN: Correct. So but that bothers me. That sentence bothers me because that says the reporter is either reaching and doesn't really have everything but enough for the story to be printed, but the editor comes in and says wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. You can't say they took him and he disappeared because do you know that? Well, no. Okay. I need you to soften this up because then for a couple of paragraphs it kind of, kind of softens it up. Nowhere does it say they did anything to him the one colleague that co wrote a book and was the co writer of this book, the guy who's had that now handed to him and Meeks' name is completely off the book and he's been entirely taken out, for what? What ha reason? What reason? He's the one who says yeah, he called me and he was just distraught and said I can't work on the book anymore. I said I understand, okay.
STU: That would be the reason; right? In theory, if you believe the narrative of the story that he's saying that I mean, like the alternate theory here would be that this guy just has massive problems going on, maybe his people around him don't want to talk about it because again I'm just throwing this stuff out there, he's in rehab or he's having emotional problems, or some sort of physical ailment. That doesn't line up with the fact that this all seems to have happened after the FBI raid. That the part of it
GLENN: Yeah.
STU: If there was no FBI raid you might say why is this guy missing, we don't have any answers.
GLENN: If I were the editor, I would be asking is there a missing person's report out on him? Has anybody filed a missing persons? This guy can't be a guy that can just disappear and has no friend that says hey, you know, I'm really concerned with him. We haven't seen him since April. He hasn't tweeted, he hasn't done anything since April. You know, if you're a good friend of his or a family member, and you think that he's having some issues, you are even stronger on that.
STU: Yeah. And they don't have family members quoted in there.
GLENN: They have no family members.
STU: They're not saying hey, we're looking for him too, we don't know. It's co workers and co works, it's possible, certainly this day and age where everyone's working at home, may not see a co worker for a long period of time. You'd think they wouldn't write the story, though, if they did not have an indication. If they knew ten minutes after they write it that one of their family members is saying I just saw him at lunch yesterday, You've got to have some sort of confirmation.
GLENN: He's not in New York, have you looked at his home town?
STU: Right.
GLENN: You know what I mean?
STU: Yeah. He just took different job. He's been working at talk y bell for the past six months.
GLENN: That would be like you saying I was here one day, it was the summer, Glenn just disappeared for months. He's been gone since June and it's August. Yeah, I'm up in the mountains.
STU: He's at the ranch.
GLENN: He's at the ranch, right.
GLENN: You can't do that.
STU: Right. They don't, I assume they want to avoid looking that dumb today if a family member is like hey, here he is, we swam in the pool yesterday. You want to have some belief in the media, I guess. I think what's more shocking here, we're picking apart this report, but why weren't these people asking questions about their friend, about their co worker? Where were the reporters where they can write about every rumor about Donald Trump, they can accuse him of being a Russian asset for five years but they don't have any interest in their own friend and his whereabouts? That kind of weird, is tent?
GLENN: Mmhm. That's why I started this hour with never seen this in America before. I've never seen this in America. This is what you expect in a banana republic. This is what you expect government to do in Russia. And the idea again he had classified I don't think on his laptop. He's a journalist, he's protected by law and they recently reinforced that law by saying if it's a journalist laptop you have to have the assistant AG to sign off on that warrant. The AG didn't. So how, how is that even, how does that square with the story? Why did they conduct the raid with the roomers they were looking for some classified information. You can't conduct the raid for that on a journalist. You've broken the law. The good news is the FBI's looking into it. As soon as they get those pro life clinic bombers they'll be on this one.