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DOJ Preparation Fee – Rolling Stone

December 19, 2022

more than seven months after ABC producer James Gordon Meek was the subject of a dramatic raid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an indictment is being prepared by the Justice Department for presentation to a grand jury , according to two sources familiar with the matter. The FBI had been tracking Meek for alleged criminal activity unrelated to his work as a journalist long before the April 27 raid, according to these and two other sources. In addition, new details have emerged around the issue. rolling stone learned that the FBI seized nearly a dozen electronic devices belonging to the Emmy-winning investigative reporter during the dawn raid of his home in Arlington, Va., after which Meek abruptly resigned from ABC via e-mail.

The FBI previously confirmed that the agency “conducted court-authorized law enforcement activities” on the morning of April 27 at Meek’s address. Meek’s attorney, Eugene Gorokhov, said, “I cannot comment on ongoing investigations, but any decisions that need to be made now are entirely at the government’s discretion.”

The Justice Department would take extra precautions given Meek’s status as a journalist. The investigation, details of which are not publicly available, is proceeding at a deliberate pace typical of a high-profile subject, sources say. To complicate matters, the FBI allegedly found classified information on Meek’s laptop after the seizure, according to multiple sources. The alleged possession of classified material would remain a separate matter, add two of these sources, and would not likely result in criminal charges.

The national security investigative producer frequently worked on stories involving sensitive materials and sources of supply. He was best known for his deep dives which included a series of reports on a 2017 Islamic State ambush in Niger that left four American Green Berets dead. His report, which punched holes in the Pentagon’s official narrative of what really happened during the botched mission, was adapted into the 2021 feature-length documentary. 3212 unredacted for ABC’s sister company, Hulu.

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On October 18, rolling stone first reported the raid on Meek’s home – a top-floor apartment at the upscale Siena Park resort in suburban Washington, D.C. Meek submitted his resignation to a supervisor via email, citing reasons a day after the raid, which he never disclosed to ABC. Sources say ABC didn’t know about the raid until months after it happened. Meek’s attorney declined to comment on this point. In a sign that the raid had nothing to do with his work as a journalist, the network was never asked by Meek to provide legal assistance, according to an ABC source familiar with the matter. (A news outlet would typically support a journalist facing government scrutiny of their news-gathering activities, such as allegations of possession of classified documents, given the First Amendment implications of such matters.) But the origins of the investigation Meek had nothing to do with classified documents. , say the sources. The April 28 resignation was the last the network heard from its former star producer, ABC source says. (Meek, now 53, left his Siena Park apartment shortly after the raid and lives with his mother in suburban DC)

How Meek appeared on the FBI’s radar in the first place remains murky. Theresa Carroll Buchanan, federal magistrate judge in the Eastern District Court of Virginia, signed the search warrant the day before the raid. rolling stone spoke to witnesses to the raid, which featured extraordinary firepower, including an armored tactical vehicle known as the Lenco BearCat G2 as well as around 10 heavily armed officers. But the feds have become increasingly cautious about serving terms. In 2021, two of the bureau’s agents were killed and three were injured while targeting the home of a Florida man, marking the deadliest day for the FBI since 1994.

For roughly three decades, Meek published major stories, including the military’s cover-up of Pfc’s fratricidal death. Dave Sharrett II in Iraq in outlets such as APBNews.com and the New York Daily News before landing at ABC, where he was a fixture in the close-knit world of national security-beaten journalists. But his neighbors and those who have worked closely with him over the years describe Meek as something of a closed book. Krystin Poitra, who lived in an apartment adjacent to Meek’s for more than a decade and parked her car next to her SUV, says despite talking regularly with her neighbor, she had no idea what was going on. he did in life. Many former colleagues called him a “military fanboy” given that he touted his connections in the upper ranks of the armed forces. And he left journalism for two years to join the staff of the House Committee on Homeland Security for then-Speaker Peter King of New York.

But personal details about the divorced father-of-two daughters remain elusive, with a few exceptions, such as Meek telling colleagues he was inspired to cover terrorism cases after his cousin died in the Oklahoma bombing. City in 1995. Journalist Janon Fisher, who worked with Meek at both the APB and the Daily Newsrecount rolling stone that his former colleague was an intense man who seemed to be part of the so-called straight-edge subculture whose adherents avoid alcohol and drugs and was a fan of the DC band Fugazi.

“He was a good colleague but sometimes a little distant,” adds Fisher. “He never spoke vaguely about his personal life. I never received anything from him. You usually get information from someone during a conversation. There’s a back and forth. And he just seemed like he wasn’t, he didn’t give much back, he was just very careful that way.

Meanwhile, Meek’s trajectory from star investigative reporter to headline-grabbing enigma has become a hot topic in Hollywood. In the months leading up to the raid, Meek was finishing work on a book for Simon & Schuster titled Operation Pineapple Express: The Incredible Story of a Group of Americans Who Undertook One Last Mission and Fulfilled a Promise in Afghanistan, which he co-wrote with Lt. Col. Scott Mann, a retired Green Beret. Several top production companies, including Brad Pitt’s Plan B (Moonlight) and producers like Dana Brunetti (Captain Phillips), had been in contention for the rights of Operation Pineapple Expresswhich was quietly acquired by Basil Iwanyk (Sicario). Sources say Meek led the negotiations, but then abruptly cut off communications. “He was texting and making Zoom calls every day and then he quit,” said a person involved in the film’s rights negotiations. In the spring, Simon & Schuster mysteriously erased Meek’s name from all press materials for the book as well as in most cases from the book itself, in which he played a central role in the narrative as a journalist who helped US-trained commandos escape. Afghanistan amid the chaotic 2021 U.S. military withdrawal. (Meek is included in the book’s character roster.) A rep for Simon & Schuster declined to comment.

“He contacted me in the spring, and was really distraught, and told me he had serious personal issues and had to step down from the project,” Mann said. rolling stone. “As a guy who is a combat veteran who saw that kind of tension – I don’t know what it was – I honored it. And he continued on his way, and I continued the project.

The book has become a New York Times bestseller, but sources say its movie prospects are now in the balance as the Meek Association has resurfaced.

Ultimately, many of his colleagues are perplexed by the curious case of Meek, an esteemed journalist who now appears to be in grave legal danger. But someone who worked closely with Meek on 3212 unredacted described him as shrouded in mystery, a man who operated professionally with a level of secrecy atypical even for a journalist covering sensitive topics. He would frequently kick all but one or two of the staff out of the room during history meetings.

Another person who worked on the film says Meek was well-connected in the intelligence community, but nothing else about him stood out. The source adds, “Everything about this case is shocking and disturbing.”