Anonymous ID: df0439 July 31, 2023, 6:58 a.m. No.19273217   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>3231

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fbi-raid-on-abc-news-producer-james-gordon-meek-wasnt-tied-to-his-work

FBI Raid on ABC News Bigshot Producer Wasn’t 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.

Rolling Stone’s big scoop last week, headlined “FBI Raids Star ABC News Producer’s Home,” read like a Tom Clancy thriller and raised serious concerns that the feds raided a journalist over his work.

However, there’s more to the story than meets the eye, ABC reporters, producers, and executives told Confider.

The article opened with a dramatic retelling of the April raid on ABC News investigative producer James Gordon Meek’s Arlington apartment, complete with quotes from a “self-described police-vehicle historian” neighbor and a claim that the feds had found “classified information” on his laptop.

“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,” the magazine reported.

Anonymous ID: df0439 July 31, 2023, 7 a.m. No.19273223   🗄️.is đź”—kun

Operation Pineapple Express

By Scott Mann and James Gordon Meek

An edge-of-your-seat thriller about a group of retired Green Berets who come together to save a former comrade—and 500 other Afghans—being targeted by the Taliban in the chaos of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.

In April, ABC News correspondent James Gordon Meek got an urgent call from a Special Forces operator serving overseas. The message: Get Nezam out of Afghanistan now. Nezam was part of the Afghan National Army’s first group of American-trained commandos. He passed through Fort Bragg’s legendary Q course and served alongside the US Special Forces for over a decade. But Afghanistan’s government and army are collapsing, and Nezam is getting threatening texts from the Taliban. James knows he must do whatever it takes to save his friend. He gets in touch with Nezam’s former commanding officer, retired Lt.-Col. Scott Mann, who can’t face the idea of losing another soldier in the long War on Terror. He sends out an SOS to a group of Afghan vets (Navy SEALs, Green Berets, CIA officers, USAID advisors). They all answer the call for one last mission.

Operating out of basements and garages, Task Force Pineapple organizes an escape route for Nezam and gets him into hiding in Taliban-controlled Kabul. After many tense days, he braves the enemy checkpoints and the crowds of thousands blocking the airport gates. He finally makes it through the wire and into the American-held airport thanks to the frantic efforts of the Pineapple express, a relentless Congressional aide, and a US embassy official. Nezam is safe, but calls are coming in from all directions requesting help for other Afghan soldiers, interpreters, and at-risk women and children. Task Force Pineapple begins all over again and ends up rescuing 500 more Afghans from Kabul in the three chaotic days before the ISIS-K suicide bombing. Operation Pineapple Express is a thrilling, suspenseful tale of service and loyalty amidst the chaos of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Anonymous ID: df0439 July 31, 2023, 7:01 a.m. No.19273230   🗄️.is đź”—kun

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-arrested-transporting-images-child-sexual-abuse

Man Arrested for Transporting Images of Child Sexual Abuse

February 1, 2023

A Virginia man was arrested last night on criminal charges related to his alleged transportation of images depicting the sexual abuse of children.

According to court documents, the investigation into James Gordon Meek, 53, of Arlington, was initiated from an investigative lead sent by Dropbox and ultimately received by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. That lead ultimately led to a court-authorized search of Meek’s residence in April 2022 by members of the task force, where law enforcement seized multiple devices that allegedly contained evidence of the transportation of images of child sexual abuse.

According to court documents, several of Meek’s devices allegedly contained images depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and multiple chat conversations with users engaged in sexually explicit conversations where the participants expressed enthusiasm for the sexual abuse of children. In two of those conversations, a username allegedly associated with Meek received and distributed child sexual abuse materials through an internet-based messaging platform.

Meek is charged with transportation of child pornography. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division made the announcement.

Trial Attorney Whitney Kramer of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Zoe Bedell for the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.

This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, with significant assistance from the Arlington County Police Department. The task force is comprised of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking.

Anonymous ID: df0439 July 31, 2023, 7:03 a.m. No.19273243   🗄️.is đź”—kun

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12325157/Former-ABC-News-journalist-James-Gordon-Meek-pleads-guilty-possessing-child-pornography.html

Former ABC News journalist James Gordon Meek pleads guilty to possessing child pornography

 

Meek, 53, admitted the charge in a court hearing on Friday as part of plea deal

The deal could secure him a lighter prison sentence than if he'd been convicted

He was indicted on three federal child pornography counts earlier this year

 

Former ABC News journalist and father-of-two James Gordan Meek has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.

During a court hearing in Alexandria on Friday, the 53-year-old formerly decorated reporter from Arlington, Virginia, admitted possessing dozens of inappropriate images and videos of children spanning at least the last nine years.

Divorcee Meek - who covered national security issues for ABC until he resigned last year - confessed to sharing child pornography videos, including one showing the sexual abuse of an infant in a chat with two other people.

His confession came as part of a plea agreement which could allow him to receive a shorter jail sentence than the minimum five-year term he would have faced if convicted following a trial.

Earlier this year, he was charged with possessing and transporting child photography following an FBI raid on his Arlington penthouse in April 2022.

He went into hiding following the dawn raid, taking refuge at his elderly mom's townhouse in McLean, Virginia, 15 minutes outside Washington, D.C.

Agents founds dozens of child pornography images and videos on a laptop, external hard drive, and multiple iPhones when they searched Meek's Virginia home last year, spanning back at least to 2014.

Court papers indicate the investigation began when the FBI received a tip from Dropbox about videos showing the sexual abuse of children in an account associated with Meek.

An FBI affidavit says evidence was also seized showing Meek used Snapchat and other apps to pressure minors into sending him sexually explicit images.

In some of those communications, Meek portrayed himself as a girl - though these allegations are not explicitly referenced in his plea deal.

Meek's lawyer had unsuccessfully argued that the evidence was obtained illegally and should have been tossed out.

The plea deal preserves Meek's right to pursue an appeal to have the evidence dismissed.

Failing a successful appeal on the search-and-seizure issue, Meek will be sentenced in September and faces up to 40 years in prison, though a maximum sentence is unlikely.

He remains in federal custody awaiting his sentence after a judge revoked his bail and declared he posed a risk to the community.

Meek joined ABC News´ Washington bureau as an investigative producer in 2013.

He previously worked for the New York Daily News and also served as senior counter-terrorism adviser and investigator for the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security.

Meek's abrupt resignation and the FBI search of his home sparked fears last year that he had been targeted for his work as a journalist.

He was last seen in late October, when DailyMail.com finally spotted him at his elderly mom's townhouse in McLean, Virginia, 15 minutes outside Washington, D.C.

The divorced dad-of-two appeared to be keeping a low profile, parking his Chevy SUV several blocks from the property and ignoring questions as he slipped inside via a back door.

He was still wearing his typical military-style getup, including an army field jacket with an Afghan flag patch, backpack, aviator shades, and a keffiyeh scarf – a nod to Meek's celebrated dispatches from the frontline in Afghanistan.

Anonymous ID: df0439 July 31, 2023, 7:07 a.m. No.19273259   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>3384

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12342885/Tom-Hanks-son-Chet-Hanks-debuts-massive-cross-tattoo-chest-Christian-convert-proclaims-lifes-purpose-serve-God.html

Tom Hanks' son Chet Hanks debuts massive cross tattoo on his chest as the Christian convert proclaims his life's purpose is to 'serve God'