# Let's discuss James Gordon Meek, the ABC News Producer who just had his home raided by the FBI **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 19, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500 "2022-10-19T19:27:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/1 "2022-10-19T19:27:53Z")
> **[FBI Raids Star ABC News Producer's Home](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/fbi-raid-abc-news_producer-1234613619/)** > > Emmy-winning producer James Gordon Meek had his home raided by the FBI. His colleagues say they haven’t seen him since. There is a lot going on with this story. He resigned very abruptly months ago and hasn’t been seen by his neighbors in quite some time. Anybody heard any rumors or have an inside scoop about what might be going on? Here are a few bits from the article: "In the raid’s aftermath, Meek has made himself scarce. None of his Siena Park neighbors with whom _Rolling Stone_ spoke have seen him since, with his apartment appearing to be vacant. Siena Park management declined to confirm that their longtime tenant was gone, citing “privacy policies.” Similarly, several ABC News colleagues — who are accustomed to unraveling mysteries and cracking investigative stories — tell _Rolling Stone_ that they have no idea what happened to Meek. “He fell off the face of the Earth,” says one. “And people asked, but no one knew the answer.” An ABC representative tells _Rolling Stone_, “He resigned very abruptly and hasn’t worked for us for months.” Meek has been charged with no crime. **But independent observers believe the raid is 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 the search warrant the 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 prosecutors from seizing journalists’ documents. I’m particularly interested in the part I bolded above. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/2 "2022-10-19T19:31:50Z")
One paragraph from the Rolling Stone story, “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 Meek says it would be highly unusual for a reporter or producer to keep any classified information on a computer.” ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/3 "2022-10-19T19:36:12Z")
To clarify, the raid didn’t “just happen”. It was back in April. The news now is that nobody has seen Meek since then. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/4 "2022-10-19T19:36:37Z")
Has anyone looked in Gitmo? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/5 "2022-10-19T19:44:15Z")
Or under the seat cushions? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/6 "2022-10-19T19:51:49Z")
If I had to guess, he’s in witness protection. His lawyer was quite distressed that someone in government may have leaked something. If Meek was in custody, his lawyer would be the first one in front of TV cameras. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/7 "2022-10-19T20:04:15Z")
He got locked in the outhouse, and nobody noticed? ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/8 "2022-10-19T21:58:19Z")
Will he inherit the earth? ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/9 "2022-10-19T22:02:57Z")
Blessed are the cheesemakers. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/10 "2022-10-19T22:53:23Z")
Just to add some interesting detail from the article: > (Meeks)was a former senior counterterrorism adviser and investigator for the House Homeland Security Committee. He was not a producer of interesting animal stories. He was ABC’s national-security investigative producer. The raid was not just a couple of guys in suits knocking on the door to deliver a polite search warrant, it was > an olive-green Lenco BearCat G2, an armored tactical vehicle often employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 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 counted at least 10 heavily armed personnel in the group. Interesting, to say the least. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/11 "2022-10-19T23:00:40Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > **But independent observers believe the raid is among the first — and quite possibly, the first — to be carried out on a journalist by the Biden administration**. If you believe that these observers are independent, then more power to ya! (I realize that after the last administration, people may forget that the President’s administration is not directing the DOJ. Anymore.) ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/12 "2022-10-20T21:26:15Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I realize that after the last administration, people may forget that the President’s administration is not directing the DOJ. Anymore. Directing it less, er, directly, perhaps. But nominally, all executive authorities of the Federal Government are part of the hierarchy headed by the President. The Attorney General is appointed by the President and serves at his discretion. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/13 "2022-10-20T21:30:45Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic (via link)](#): > > an olive-green Lenco BearCat G2, an armored tactical vehicle often employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 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_. A _marked_ armored tactical vehicle would have given the game away. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2022, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/14 "2022-10-21T14:38:46Z")
No one expects the _Spanish Inquisition_! Unless it’s steniclled on the side of their BearCat! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2022, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/15 "2022-10-23T20:18:30Z")
On the other hand, calling it a “raid carried out on a journalist” seems to imply that the journalism was somehow connected to the reason for the raid. I don’t think we know that (in fact, I don’t think we even know the reason for the raid at all yet). For all we can tell, maybe the dude had a side line of peddling meth, or something. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2022, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/16 "2022-10-24T02:17:57Z")
More plausibly peddling secrets obtained in the course of his investigative journalism. But yeah, they may have gotten him for something totally unrelated. Maybe he really is one of those satanic pedophiles certain RW nutbags are always going on about. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2022, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/17 "2022-10-30T16:37:36Z")
Looks like the original article may have been off on a few things. > **[FBI Raid on ABC News Bigshot Producer Wasn’t Tied to His Work](https://www.thedailybeast.com/fbi-raid-on-abc-news-producer-james-gordon-meek-wasnt-tied-to-his-work)** > > In this week’s edition of Confider, we reveal how the story about an ABC News reporter being raided by the FBI is far murkier than it first seemed. A couple quotes: > Inside ABC News, however, staffers were baffled by this framing, since Meek resigned from the network via email on April 27—the same day as the raid—citing “personal reasons” and told friends it was to “save colleagues and the company any embarrassment,” according to two people familiar with the situation. > For starters, Confider has learned that while reporters at _The New York Times_ , _The_ _Washington Post_ , and NBC News have chased the story over the past few months, ABC News has not at all investigated the raid on their own ex-colleague even though network boss Kim Godwin had been briefed on the matter. > Meek, who according to multiple sources has since deleted photos of firearms and ammunition from his personal Facebook page, has not been charged with any crime. > And while the _Rolling Stone_ story—authored by ace investigative scribe Tatiana Siegel—further claimed that Meek has “vanished,” his friends told Confider that he is living with his mother. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2022, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/18 "2022-10-31T21:42:54Z")
_Rolling Stone_ magazine published an inaccurate article? I am shocked, shocked I tell you. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/19 "2023-03-05T23:36:16Z")
Bump with an update. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Maybe he really is one of those satanic pedophiles certain RW nutbags are always going on about. Guess what! > **[Ex-ABC News journalist arrested and accused of possessing child pornography,...](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/feds-arrest-former-abc-news-journalist-accused-possessing-child-pornog-rcna68642)** > > James Gordon Meek, 53, of Arlington, Virginia, was allegedly caught in online chats expressing "enthusiasm for the sexual abuse of children," authorities said. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500/20 "2023-03-06T21:14:35Z")
For those of you, like me, that didn’t know what “transportation of child pornography” means: > The legal definition of transportation encompasses a wide scope of possible behaviors, from actual physical transportation via domestic or foreign mail to virtual communications, such as those contained within emails, mms/sms text messages, and website links. Poorly written article again. Either he has been charged with two crimes or the author needs an editor. Some bolding by me. Looks like prison time for him in his future. > Former ABC News journalist James Gordon Meek was arrested and **accused of possessing child pornography** , federal authorities said Wednesday. > Meek, a 53-year-old resident of Arlington, Virginia, was taken into custody Tuesday night and was **charged with transportation of child pornography** , officials said. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-discuss-james-gordon-meek-the-abc-news-producer-who-just-had-his-home-raided-by-the-fbi/973500.md?page=2)