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James Gordon Meek

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This article is about the American journalist. For other people named James Meek, see James Meek (disambiguation).

James Gordon Meek
Born(1969-08-24)August 24, 1969
OccupationJournalist
CitizenshipAmerican
SpouseDivorced[citation needed][1]
Childrentwo daughters[2]

James Gordon Meek (born August 24, 1969) is an American former ABC News senior producer and senior counter-terrorism advisor to the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security.[3][4] During his time as a journalist, Meek held prominent positions covering the justice system, military, and foreign intelligence desks.[5][6]

In 2022, his home was raided by the FBI, in what was later revealed to be an investigation into child pornography.[7] In 2023, Meek was arrested on charges of transportation and possession of child pornography.[8][9] Later that year, he pleaded guilty to those charges[10][11] and was sentenced to six years in prison.[12][13][14]

Career

His father, John Martin Meek, had been a lobbyist and speechwriter for John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Bobby Kennedy.[15]

Meek initially wrote political articles for the CD-ROM magazine Blender, leading to 1995 accreditation with the Periodical Press Galleries.[16][17][18] Meek and his partner Mike Rosenberg formed the "irreverent" Gridlock webzine to apply for accreditation to the Senate Periodical Press Gallery but were denied as the webzine could not be the pair's primary source of income.[17][19] In August 1996, both men were "shown the door" from Blender for a "poor attitude".[20] Meek was the last person to interview William Colby, for a story on the assassination of John F. Kennedy, as the former CIA director was found dead days later.[21]

Meek and Rosenberg then founded "Digital Culture Interactive News", which wrote stories about their Gridlock webzine, and sent submissions to Reader's Digest.[22][23][24] Meek was thanked in the EPA director's 2000 book on the subject of Public relations.[25]

Meek wrote extensively on the death of Dave Sharrett II, whose father had taught Meek at Langley High School.[26][27][4] Meek wrote of his "deep friendship" with the family of Caitlan Coleman, and is a personal friend of constitutional lawyer Mark Zaid.[28][29]

In addition to his duties as a senior advisor, Meek was also the senior investigator for the House Committee on Homeland Security, and in May 2011 was sent to tour the ADX Florence supermax prison, and "cementing ties with Navy SEAL, Special Operations Command, Pentagon lead on front lines".[30]

From 2005 to 2006, Meek helped Peter Bergen and Bergen's wife, Tresha Mabile, release the best-selling book The Osama bin Laden I Know.[31] Legal author Stuart Taylor Jr. accused Meek of "classist" coverage falsely suggesting guilt of the wrongly-accused defendants in the 2006 Duke lacrosse case.[32]

In 2011, Meek was hired as a senior counter-terrorism investigator for the House Committee on Homeland Security, although he was unsure why Congressman Peter King had spontaneously offered him the position as he had not sought any such employment—though Meek noted he'd written widely on terrorism and his third cousin's wife had been killed in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.[33][27][8][34]

In 2013, Meek was hired as a senior investigative producer for ABC News' 20/20, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight and Nightline programming from 2013 to 2022.[9][35][8][36] In 2017 Meek wrote an article about Russian disinformation in the Syrian war wherein he referred to "the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory", which drew viral attention with exaggerated suggestions Meek had said much more, after his guilty plea to judge Claude Hilton.[37][38][39]

Meek appeared as a panelist, together with Ewen and Coleman, at the 2021 Double Exposure Film Festival.[40] According to Fox News, although he never served in the military, he chose to dress in "typical military-style getup" .[41]

Child pornography prosecution

In 2021, Meek was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for crimes related to child pornography.[42] He was charged with transporting child pornography in February of the following year. In July 2023, he pleaded guilty to one count of distribution and another of possessing child pornography.[13] He was sentenced to six years in prison in September.[12]

References

  1. ^ James Gordon Meek, Gridlock Magazine, September 11, 2002. 9/11 First Anniversary, archive.org. Accessed July 30, 2023.
  2. ^ Flood, Brian; Hays, Gabriel (September 29, 2023). "Ex-ABC News journalist James Gordon Meek sentenced to six years in prison for 'sadistic' child porn". Fox News.
  3. ^ Ford, David (April 29, 2013). "ABC News Expands its Award-Winning Investigative Unit". ABC News.
  4. ^ a b Operation Pineapple Express. Simon & Schuster. August 30, 2022. ISBN 9781668003534. Archived from the original on January 17, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  5. ^ Hays, Gabriel (September 26, 2023). "Feds recommend 15-year prison sentence for ex ABC News journalist guilty of sadistic' child porn". Fox News.
  6. ^ News Media Yellow Book. (2008). United States: Monitor Leadership Directories, Incorporated.
  7. ^ Cartwright, Lachlan (October 24, 2022). "FBI Raid on ABC News Bigshot Producer Wasn't Tied to His Work". Daily Beast.
  8. ^ a b c Rizzo, Salvador (February 1, 2023). "Former ABC News journalist charged in child pornography case". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Shanfeld, Ethan (February 1, 2023). "Former ABC News Producer Arrested on Child Pornography Charge". Variety. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  10. ^ Battaglio, Stephen (July 21, 2023). "Former ABC News producer pleads guilty in child pornography case". Los Angeles Times.
  11. ^ Barakat, Matthew (July 22, 2023). "Ex-ABC News reporter pleads guilty in Virginia court to child porn charges". Richmond Times-Dispatch.
  12. ^ a b Rizzo, Salvador (September 29, 2023). "Former ABC News journalist gets 6-year sentence in child pornography case". The Washington Post.
  13. ^ a b "An ex-investigative journalist is sentenced to 6 years in a child sexual abuse materials case". Associated Press. September 29, 2023.
  14. ^ Wheeler, Marcy (April 25, 2023). "James Gordon Meek and Merrick Garland's "Suspect Exception"". emptywheel.
  15. ^ "PR News | Meek, Former Edelman Executive, Washington Speechwriter, Dies at 86". odwyerpr.com. March 14, 2016.
  16. ^ Inheriting the Meek. (1996). Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  17. ^ a b Society of Professional Journalists, Credentialing for Online Journalists, October 2000
  18. ^ Kurtz, Howard (December 18, 1995). "Talk That's Anything But Cheap". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  19. ^ eBay Magazine, Issue 1, Premiere, "2000 Election", 1999
  20. ^ "UPI's Gridlock & Load | 2nd ANNIVERSARY BUZZ". May 25, 2000. Archived from the original on May 25, 2000. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  21. ^ Colby's Video Goodbye, TIME.com. Accessed July 30, 2023.
  22. ^ "DCi Newshound Mike Rosenberg". Archived from the original on April 19, 2003.
  23. ^ Rogers, Jim. "Facing Terror: The Government's Response to Contemporary Extremists in America", pg. 104
  24. ^ "American Journalism Review - Archives".
  25. ^ Rene A. Henry (2000). You'd better have a hose if you want to put out the fire. Windsor, CA: Gollywobbler Productions. ISBN 096745350X. LCCN 99095476. OL 61434M.
  26. ^ Robert M. Poole (2014). Section 60. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9781620402931. LCCN 2014017528. OCLC 860754995. OL 27168136M.
  27. ^ a b Jackman, Tom (February 26, 2012). "A closer look at those in the Dave Sharrett case". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  28. ^ "Jim Coleman, father of ex-Taliban hostage, was a man of honor: Reporter's Notebook". ABC News. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  29. ^ Folkenflik, David (March 21, 2023). "The FBI raided a notable journalist's home. Rolling Stone didn't tell readers why". NPR.
  30. ^ https://cha.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/cha.house.gov/files/11_05_homeland_security.pdf
  31. ^ Peter L. Bergen, The Osama bin Laden I know: an oral history of al-Qaeda's leader (New York, Free Press, 2006), ( ISBN 0743278917/ ISBN 9780743278911), pg. xxxiii.
  32. ^ Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case (2010), United Kingdom: St. Martin's Press.
  33. ^ Meek, James Gordon. "What Is War", p.202, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047425816_016
  34. ^ "Daily News' Terror Scribe Joins Peter King's Court; 'It's Kind of Like Working In a Think Tank'". Observer. February 17, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  35. ^ "James Gordon Meek News Stories and Articles". ABC News. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  36. ^ "ABC News Expands its Award-Winning Investigative Unit". ABC News. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  37. ^ "Former journalist who lived on Columbia Pike pleads guilty to child sexual abuse material possession | ARLnow.com". July 21, 2023.
  38. ^ Ross, Brian; Christie, Megan; Meek, James (April 13, 2017). "'Behind #SyriaHoax and the Russian propaganda onslaught'". ABC News.
  39. ^ "Fact Check-Fabricated New York Post headline on ex-ABC journalist". Reuters. August 15, 2023.
  40. ^ Kenigsberg, Ben (November 11, 2021). "'3212 Un-Redacted' Review: Trying to Solve a Mission's Mysteries". The New York Times.
  41. ^ "ABC News reporter James Gordon Meek 'resigned very abruptly' following alleged FBI raid of home". Fox News. October 19, 2022.
  42. ^ Graziosi, Graig (February 1, 2023). "Ex-ABC News producer arrested and charged with transporting child abuse materials". The Independent. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
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