Glenn Beck and Stu discuss the latest in the CDC, the Ukraine crisis, and a story from Rolling Stone Magazine that could have implications for the future of the United States of America. Glenn also discusses a new report from ABC News that could change the course of the Cold War.
00:04:20.140The network's national security investigative producer was responding to a former CIA agent and his take that the Ukrainian military with assistance from the U.S.
00:04:37.260This agent's tweet, filled with acronyms indecipherable to the layperson like TTPs, UW and EW, was itself a reply to a missive from Washington Post's Pentagon reporter who noted the wealth of information that the U.S.
00:04:55.240military had gathered about Russian military had gathered about Russian ops just by observing their combat strategy in real time.
00:05:02.520The interchange illustrated the interplay between the national security community and those who cover it.
00:05:09.820And no one straddled both worlds quite like ABC News Meek.
00:05:15.540He was an Emmy-winning deep-dive journalist who was a former senior counterterrorism advisor and investigator for the House Homeland Security Commission.
00:05:26.500His detractors within ABC, Meek was something of a military fanboy, but his track record of exclusives was undeniable,
00:05:35.540breaking the news of foiled terrorist plots in New York City and the army's cover-up of the fratricidal death of private first-class David Sherratt in Iraq,
00:05:48.300a bombshell that earned Meek a face-to-face meeting with President Obama.
00:05:52.560With 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,
00:06:06.380the 52-year-old journalist seemed to be at the height of his powers and the pinnacle of his profession.
00:06:12.280But outside his Arlington, Virginia apartment, a surreal scene was unfolding, and his storied career was about to come crashing down.
00:06:27.160Meek's tweet marked the last time he posted on Twitter.
00:06:31.780The first thing Meek's neighbor, John Anatoly, noticed that morning was a black utility vehicle with blacked-out windows blocking traffic in both directions on Columbus Pike.
00:06:45.600It was just before dawn on that brisk April day, and self-described police vehicle historian Anatoly was about to grab a coffee at Starbucks before embarking on his daily three-mile walk.
00:07:01.780He inched closer to get a better vantage, and when he saw an olive green Lenko Bearcat G2, an armored tactical vehicle often employed by the FBI among other law enforcement agencies,
00:07:15.740a few Arlington County cruisers surrounded the jaw-dropping scene, but all of the other vehicles were unmarked, including the Bearcat.
00:07:25.860Anatoly counted at least 10 heavily armed personnel in the group.
00:07:33.440None bore anything identifying which agency was conducting the raid.
00:07:38.880Just after 10 minutes, the operation inside the Siena Park apartment complex, a six-story upscale building for D.C. professionals, was over.
00:07:52.540They took off pretty quickly and headed west on Columbia Pike towards Fairfax County.
00:07:58.000Most people seeing that green vehicle will think it's some sort of a tank, but I knew it was a Lenko Bearcat.
00:08:04.840It's a vehicle designed to jump out of so you can do a raid in a quick amount of time, and it can return fire if they're being fired upon.
00:08:13.240Multiple sources familiar with the matter say Meek was the target of an FBI raid at the Siena Park Apartments, where he had been living on the top floor for more than a decade.
00:08:25.340An FBI representative told Rolling Stone its agents were present on the morning of April 27th at that block, but they could not comment further due to an ongoing investigation.
00:08:39.640Meek 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.
00:08:55.040A federal magistrate judge in the Virginia Eastern District Court signed off on a search warrant that day before the raid.
00:09:02.860If the raid was for Meek's records, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco would have had to give her blessings.
00:09:11.560A new policy enacted last year prohibits federal prosecutors from seizing journalist documents.
00:09:17.520Any exception requires the deputy AG's approval.
00:09:22.820They said, to my knowledge, there hasn't been any case since January 2021.
00:09:28.960In the raid's aftermath, Meek has made himself scarce.
00:09:38.660This story takes a turn now, and I'm not sure what we're getting here.
00:09:45.520In the raid's aftermath, Meek has made himself scarce.
00:09:49.740None of his Siena Park neighbors, with whom Rolling Stone spoke with, have seen him since.
00:09:57.000With his apartment now appearing to be vacant, Siena Park management declined to confirm that their long-time tenant was gone, citing privacy policies.
00:10:50.120Sources familiar with the matter say federal agents allegedly found classified information on Meek's laptop during their raid.
00:10:57.480One investigative journalist who worked with Meek says it would be highly unusual for a reporter or a producer to keep any classified information on his computer.
00:11:32.200It is unclear what story, if any, would have put Meek in the FBI crosshairs.
00:11:38.360Meek 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.
00:11:51.780In recent years, some of Meek's highest-profile reporting delved into an ambush by ISIS, left four American Green Berets dead.
00:12:00.260Meek and ABC adapted the story in a feature-length documentary, which debuted last year on Veterans Day on Hulu.