Fingering Trio Presents: Three FBI Agents Walk Into Glenn Beck’s Living Room...

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Bulwark Takes

Episode: Fingering Trio Presents: Three FBI Agents Walk Into Glenn Beck’s Living Room...
Date: October 14, 2025
Hosts: Tim Miller, Sam Stein, Will Sommer
Main Theme:
An exploration of the increasingly fuzzy line between right-wing media narratives and federal law enforcement activity, centering on a bizarre incident where Glenn Beck claimed FBI agents visited his home to discuss his “Antifa Pyramid of Power” theories. The panel dissects the absurdity, the risks of politicized law enforcement, implications for progressive donors and activists, plus a wild side-plot involving a notorious Brazilian fraudster and Project Veritas.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Glenn Beck’s “Antifa Pyramid of Power” and FBI Engagement

• Context: Glenn Beck recently revived his signature “chalkboard” conspiracy session, weaving intricate connections between Antifa, leftist funders like Soros and the Tides Foundation, and even mainstream institutions like Fidelity Investments ([03:05]).

• Turn of Events: Beck claimed on his show that after one particularly feverish episode, the FBI director (implied to be influenced by figures like Cash Patel) sent three agents to his house to “dig deep” into his research ([04:34], [05:54]).

  • Quote – Glenn Beck:
    “Three agents sat in my living room on Saturday afternoon for almost two hours… At one point, I talked to them for about 15 minutes, just going over the Tides Foundation and saying, if you understand Tides, you’ll understand how difficult your job is going to be." ([05:54])

• Panel’s Take:

  • The team is incredulous but notes it's not inconceivable in an administration that takes cues from right-wing media.
  • Will Sommer:
    “This is every crank’s dream, right? That the FBI is going to call and be like, we really think you’re onto something here, Glenn.” ([07:05])
  • Note: They highlight the absurdity that agents’ time is consumed by this instead of serious crime, and debate how much is Beck’s fantasy versus reality ([08:57], [09:10]).

2. The Threat of Politicized Federal Investigation

• Host Anxiety: Tim Miller discusses, in a rare serious moment, his concern about the potential for politicized FBI harassment, describing how law enforcement could easily “make your life miserable”—even short of charges ([07:47]).
  • Quote – Tim Miller:
    “I’ve had friends work with and around the FBI, and they’re like, dude, you don’t even realize how much of your info they can grab... They can really harass you and make your life miserable.” ([07:47])

3. Enter: The Brazilian Fraudster & Project Veritas’ Bizarre Sideplot

• Story: Will Sommer explains how Patricia Lease (likely “Patricia Lelis”), a Brazilian accused fraudster wanted by the FBI, has improbably teamed up with Project Veritas to circulate potentially fake texts implicating Justice Department officials.
  • The twist: The FBI both pursues her for fraud and, per conspiracy, may entertain dirt she supplies on her “enemies” ([09:43]–[12:21]).
  • Quote – Will Sommer:
    “She’s a notorious accused Brazilian fraudster… currently on the run from our FBI, and yet she’s teamed up with Project Veritas. They have this whole claim that Bill Barr is secretly, you know, framing Trump...” ([09:45])

4. Fallout for Progressive Groups and Donors

• Progressive Anxiety: Discussion turns to repercussions for groups like Media Matters and practices of “progressive foundation giving.”
  • Sam Stein: notes increased caution, with some donors halting gifts or looking for less traceable ways to distribute funds ([13:13] – [15:05]).
  • The climate of fear may be shifting progressive philanthropy towards smaller, direct giving, as organizations become targets for government attention.

5. The Viral Turning Point USA “Measles” Halftime Poster Gag

• Comic Relief: Will Sommer brings up a satirical online poster for a Turning Point USA Super Bowl alternative halftime show, featuring a fake band called “Measles.” The panel laughs over right-wing influencer gullibility ([17:07]).
  • Quote – Will Sommer:
    “At the very bottom it says, ‘a special appearance from Measles.’” ([17:07])
  • Many MAGA influencers missed the joke; one incredulously asks, “Who the f– is this band Measles?” ([17:19])

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Will Sommer, on the right-wing dream:
  “This is every crank’s dream, right? That the FBI is going to call and be like, we really think you’re onto something here, Glenn.” ([07:05])

• Tim Miller, on FBI’s real work:
  “You would think they’d be going after actual criminals… but what you have here is like a clown show.” ([08:24])

• Sam Stein, sympathetic to progressive worry:
  “There’s plenty of donors who stop giving… plenty who won’t speak up.” ([14:31])

• Will Sommer, on right-wing own goals:
  “Maybe the saving grace… is that these people keep blowing up these weaponization schemes by revealing them prematurely.” ([15:45])

• On the viral “Measles” band:
  “At the very bottom, it says a special appearance from Measles… all these people were like, ‘this is going to rock,’ still missing the joke!” ([17:07]–[17:19])

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Timestamps: Segment Highlights

• 00:30 – Hosts introduce the “Fingering Trio” and set up the Glenn Beck/FBI topic.
• 03:05 – Beck’s conspiracy chalkboard session recapped.
• 05:54 – Glenn Beck: detailed account of the FBI’s home visit.
• 07:05 – Trio discusses the fantasy/absurdity of FBI seeking Beck’s theories.
• 07:47 – Tim Miller reflects on the real hazards of politicized law enforcement.
• 09:45 – Introduction of Patricia Lelis and Project Veritas collaboration.
• 12:21 – Wild web of leaks, doctored texts, and escalating infighting at DOJ.
• 13:13–15:09 – Effects on progressive groups, foundations, and donors.
• 17:07–17:37 – The “Measles” band meme and MAGA influencer credulity.

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Tone & Final Notes

The episode balances incredulity and gallows humor: the panel is both disturbed and bemused by the spectacle of federal resources deployed at the whims of right-wing personalities, the resulting chaos for investigative targets, and the meme-laden culture of political media. The “Fingering Trio” chemistry is skeptical, sharp, and occasionally vulgar, but always insightful—offering both laughs and serious unease at the current state of political law enforcement in America.

Transcript

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[Tim Miller]

Hey everybody. Tim Miller from the Bulwark here, it's the fingering Trio. Sam Stein, managing editor Will Sommer author of the False Flag newsletter. The people love the moniker. People love the moniker. Old ladies in, in Canada were couple.

[Sam Stein]

A couple Canadian ladies came up volunteering.

[Tim Miller]

That they wanted more Fingering Trio. And so I just, I just think it's something out there that the people need in their life right now. I can't explain it. All right, we have two topics to get to. One main topic that I have a secondary thing I want to ask Will about. And it is, boy, some pretty, some pretty serious news obviously, which is why we got the three of us together. Glenn Beck over at the Blaze has been doing some research, been looking under rocks, you know, has the pin board out with the yarn, has the yarn as the white, the white pour the black, the chalk. Everything he's doing, everything he's bringing, everything, every, every resource he has to bear to figure out what the antifa pyramid of power is. And, and boy that, that work that he's been doing has caught the attention of some pretty high profile people. Well, why don't you explain what's happened?

[Sam Stein]

Sure.

[Will Sommer]

So I mean, you know, in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's assassination we've seen a lot of talk from people like Stephen Miller and Cash Patel about how you know, there are these leftist networks and that they're going to, they're going to bust them up. But there's been, it's been very vague about who these people are and now we find from Glenn Beck that basically they're just asking Glenn Beck who do you think we should prosecute? Glenn Beck on his show goes on and he said yeah, I had this episode of my show where I, and this is, I should say I looked this episode up. He did a classic Glenn Beck chalkboard moment where he just kind of listed out Soros Tides foundation. And then he says he gets a call from Cassie.

[Tim Miller]

Hold on, hold on. Before we get to the call, can we go back to the. Can we go back to that, the previous episode, because I want to play a clip from. From Glenn talking about. About the phone call that he received. But what, like the previous episode that caught the attention of folks. What was on that chalkboard?

[Will Sommer]

Sure. So folks, I mean, this is more than a decade ago now, but folks may remember Glenn Beck when he was on Fox, he would kind of roll out a chalkboard and he would do what we now recognize as like the always sunny crazy wall where he goes, bing, bing, bing. It's all these, you know, these networks. And so last week he did. He brought out the old.

[Tim Miller]

Like Sam Stein worked for Arianna Huffington. And like Arianna Huffington was once at a D with George Soros and. Right, like that.

[Will Sommer]

Exactly, exactly. And so in this case.

[Sam Stein]

Although in this case he had me dead to rights. But yeah, go ahead.

[Will Sommer]

It's. It's various antifa groups as well as. It really gets kind of crazy. It's. It's like Fidelity Investments, like the people who handle 401ks. I mean, he's really casting a wide net here. And so you might think this is just kind of typical Glenn Beck craziness, but someone very powerful was watching.

[Glenn Beck]

Last week, I did a TV show that apparently got the FBI's attention. The topic was, was initial investigation a jumping off point, shattering the myth that antifa just, you know, it's. It's. It's just leaderless and decentralized. We thought, no, it's really not. So we dove in headfirst and we analyzed the antifa network and we went from the street thugs to the support groups, eventually to the funding. Okay. To say the FBI was interested in this might be an understatement. Let's just say the FBI is turning over every single stone. It is so clear to me that they are exploring all angles of this and they are talking to anyone and everyone that can give them any kind of information. How do I know? Saturday, I get a phone call. The director would like to send over some agents to speak to you, Glenn.

[Tim Miller]

Okay, Sam, before we get to Will. Sam, what do you think? I stopped it right there at Glenn Peck receiving this call. The director from Patel.

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[Tim Miller]

I mean, that's what someone else saying that the director wants. The director wants you to meet with people.

[Sam Stein]

I mean, so there's two ways to think about it. One is like Dan Bongino is just still watching Glenn Beck and is like, yo, Cash, you gotta check this out. Or I guess Cash is maybe watching Glenn Beck. The other way to think about it is like that there's some just normal human human beings in the FBI who now are being like, forced to watch Glenn Beck and have to process this stuff. And they're like, I guess we gotta kick this up the chain to cash and tell them about Glenn Beck's latest rant. Do they not know that this rant's been going on for a decade? Even Glenn's like, yeah, I've been on this for a decade now.

[Tim Miller]

This is my favorite part. Let's go back to Glenn. He's talking now about. We're fast forward. We have got the scene where he's received the call. The director was very interested in his material.

[Sam Stein]

He's like, even he's freaked out. He's like, I can't believe I got this call.

[Tim Miller]

Three agents are coming to his home. He calls over his producer. It's him and his wife, his producer. And let's see what happens.

[Glenn Beck]

Three agents sat in my living room on Saturday afternoon for almost two hours. And I immediately called Jason. I'm like, jason, you're the researchers. Your fault. I'm going to throw you under the bus. You better get your butt over. So Jason was there, and my wife and Jason and I sat there and it was surreal. At one point, I talked to him for about 15 minutes, just going over the Tides foundation and saying, if you understand tides, you'll understand how difficult your job is going to be. And this is information that I first gave on FOX years ago. We just say this. Finally, we have an administration and an FBI director that is willing to go in deep. Not surface, but deep. I can only imagine what we could have avoided if anyone in an administration would have done this in 2011.

[Tim Miller]

All right, so you will. So, so Glenn is like, boy, I really had to educate these guys. They didn't know about the Tides Foundation. They didn't know these, didn't know anything about the vast left wing conspiracy. I feel like I really serve my country today.

[Will Sommer]

This is every crank's dream, right? Is that the FBI is going to call and be like, we really think you're onto something here, Glenn. It's so crazy that with everything going on in this country, Cash Patel directs, I think, three FBI agents to go hang out with Glenn Beck for a couple hours. Glenn can't even explain this stuff, so he has to have his producer come who's like the real kind of originator of these crazy ideas. And then they just, you know, he drops knowledge, as you said. I mean, he, he, he said, you know, I've been putting this stuff out there for Years. What do you think?

[Sam Stein]

What do you think producer Jeremy was thinking when Glenn was like, jeremy, you're on the hook for this shit. Jeremy's probably like, man, Glenn, I've been, I've been just fucking bullshitting for a while now. This is getting serious.

[Tim Miller]

Can I tell you something? Kind of a serious moment between bros. Yeah, sure. I've been pretty. I'm not scared of these fucking guys. You know what I mean? Like, you know, we've got. There's some other people in our world who are a little bit more judicious about the potential concerns coming from the overreach. But there's one thing that is scary that has, like, occasionally given me some thoughts, which is I had friends that have worked with and around the FBI, and they're like, dude, you don't really even realize, like, how much of your info they can grab, like, before you even get to the grand jury, period. Like, they can really harass you and make your life miserable. And that's just something that I've had.

[Sam Stein]

In the background that's reassuring.

[Tim Miller]

Geez, it's been a little worry. It's been a little worry that I've had in my life. And this is. I'm getting the reassuring part, Sam. Yeah, that's three FBI agents that aren't looking into me. Two hours on Glenn Beck's couch. Not that I have anything to look into, guys. Nothing to worry about there. But, you know, I mean, I just. These guys, like you would think that they, that they, in one world they could be going after actual criminals and drug dealers and child sex offenders and the people they say that they care about. On another, you could see them going after their political. But like, what they had, what you have here is like a clown show.

[Sam Stein]

Glenn Will. I guess the question that I have is like, is this real? Like, do we take Glenn Beck's word for this? Do we know if the FBI is like, I don't know, he's not like the most trustworthy person.

[Will Sommer]

Yeah, I mean, so this just came out recently. So I haven't had a chance to hear back from the FBI on whether this is true. But I think, you know, this is an administration, I think that's very much directed by right wing media. There's a lot of interaction between them and people like John Solomon in terms of investigations to pursue. You know, obviously Laura Loomer loves to, you know, take people out in the administration. So I don't think Glenn Beck would just lie about something like this of me.

[Tim Miller]

True.

[Sam Stein]

We have that Brazilian con artist who's like apparently who's really sort of running a book.

[Will Sommer]

Yeah.

[Tim Miller]

Can you, can you explain the Brazilian con artist?

[Sam Stein]

This is, this shit is so hard to follow.

[Will Sommer]

So just very briefly, you know, I wrote about this woman a few months ago. Her name is Patricia Lease. She's a notorious accused Brazilian fraudster. She's currently on the run from our FBI and, and yet she's teamed up.

[Tim Miller]

When you say our FBI, who are you referring to?

[Will Sommer]

Like the American FBI? Not she has her own saga in Brazil, but our FBI and wants her for, for various fraud charges in the U.S. she's teamed up with Project Veritas. They have this whole claim that Bill Barr is secretly, you know, framing Trump for all this stuff. And Project Veritas, they claim it's not coming from her, but they've been putting out some text messages they, that are very incriminating about a lot of people who are her personal enemies. And it seems like maybe the FBI is getting interested.

[Tim Miller]

So the FBI's getting interested in looking into the Brazilian fraudster or the FBI is getting interested in following into her enemies.

[Will Sommer]

Basically they're maybe teaming up with her. So it's a twisted web.

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[Tim Miller]

That is interesting Web. So the FBI is simultaneously. So simultaneously I guess what's happening in the way I can translate that my own man mind is there's like still some serious law enforcement officials at the FBI who are looking into the fraudster. And then there are the Cash Patel, Dan Bongino, wing of the FBI that are looking into the people that the fraudster hates.

[Sam Stein]

Yes, yes, that's basically it.

[Will Sommer]

Well, yeah, I mean, you know Mike Davis, who's kind of a pro Trump lawyer, he said some of her claims have reached the highest levels of the Justice Department. So maybe it's kind of a Hannibal.

[Sam Stein]

Lecture and it's getting tied into the Eastern. It's getting tied into the whole saga with the Eastern District of Virginia too. It's really wild that how is this.

[Tim Miller]

Tied into that saga?

[Will Sommer]

Well, just very briefly, the Eastern District is the One that is pursuing her on fraud charges. And so suddenly Project Veritas has been getting all of these text messages they claim are not coming from her that are very incriminating about prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia saying things like, you know, I really want to kill this Trump appointee and all this stuff. And when I'm saying this is obviously coming from the woman who's been accused many times of forging text messages.

[Sam Stein]

That's.

[Will Sommer]

How could you suggest that.

[Tim Miller]

Sam, on the serious side of this, you know, the tide, you. You lived in this world, kind of progressive world. Those are your sources. When you're like, no, you're saying, I'm.

[Sam Stein]

Funded by the Tides Foundation.

[Tim Miller]

No, I'm just saying, I assume you had, you had sources in foundation world, Lefty foundation world.

[Sam Stein]

Sure, yeah.

[Tim Miller]

Friends and overlapping people that, you know, I. How high alert are people there? And I think that just there are a lot of progressive, you know, kind of fundraising conglomerates that, that give money to a bunch of things, but including, you know, organizations that organize the protests or organize other type of social action against the administration. And I assume that like, those folks are kind of probably next on the target list after, after this sort of first round of Comey and Tish James, et cetera.

[Sam Stein]

I mean, yeah, the people who I have talked to are definitely concerned. I mean, they've gone after a lot of the recipients of the money that goes through these systems. Like, for instance, Media Matters, like, has been, you know, targeted by this administration. Soros obviously has been targeted. You can tell that they're concerned because your boy Mark Benoff over the weekend. Benioff, sorry, Benioff.

[Tim Miller]

A fat fucking slob. He's sick. It's a. He's a sick person. He wants the troops to come into San Francisco now.

[Sam Stein]

He used to be a bit. Wasn't he a big liberal?

[Tim Miller]

Yeah, he's a big liberal donor. He donated to the stupidest progressive shit imaginable and now he's a fascist.

[Glenn Beck]

What is.

[Tim Miller]

Can you just be a normal. Can we just have some normal capitalists in the country running businesses?

[Sam Stein]

Say that he wanted the troops to.

[Tim Miller]

Come to San Francisco and the next. Trump's doing a bang up job now.

[Sam Stein]

Yeah. Do you think that's legit or do you think he's just trying to curry favor with Trump?

[Tim Miller]

I can't get inside his head. I don't know.

[Sam Stein]

I think people are. I think people have gone crazy, honestly. I think people have gone crazy on both sides. I got a question for Will, though.

[Tim Miller]

Anyway, though, I got lost though, at that. Converse. So you think that my. You may have a. My buddy Benioff, but, like, what. So those donors. You think donors are freaks, man?

[Sam Stein]

Yeah, they're definitely feeling it.

[Tim Miller]

And you're saying that Benioff might be doing this because of that fear? We don't know, but.

[Sam Stein]

We don't know.

[Tim Miller]

But it wouldn't.

[Sam Stein]

It wouldn't surprise me. There's plenty of donors who stop giving. There's plenty of donors who won't speak up. There's plenty of donors who are rethinking, going through some of the usual channels and directly. So there's a whole system of liberal giving where you go. You give to places like the Tides foundation, and they become the sort of disseminators of the cash, and you basically entrust them to kind of fuel different operations. And the new movement now is for donors to just directly seed different groups rather than cut one big check, which you might say, okay, that's fine, whatever. Just get the money out. But you spend less money that way, right? Writing one big check and it makes it seem more.

[Tim Miller]

I don't know. Anyway, I don't know if that helps them that much, really. On the targeting by the government, also.

[Sam Stein]

The donors don't really know who's doing the most effective work. Right. I have one last question for Will before. I don't know if we're writing that, but.

[Tim Miller]

And then I have a last, last question. So two more questions.

[Sam Stein]

Two more questions. Will, how often do you watch Glenn Beck or one of these shows? And then something will come on like, hey, I got a call from the FBI office. And you're like, wait, wait, what the fuck? Rewind. What did he just say? Like, is this, like, now a regular occurrence for you?

[Will Sommer]

Well, you know, I'm thinking here, too, of the time Candace Owens was like, oh, you know, Trump called me personally to ask me to stop investigating whether Brigitte Macron is trans.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah.

[Will Sommer]

You know, and I do think this gets into the. Like, the one, maybe saving grace here for the rest of us is that these people keep blowing up the. These weaponization schemes, these Justice Department things, by revealing them prematurely. And so, you know, you have Glenn Beck saying, like, yeah, I'm the main source for some upcoming federal investigation. Or in the case of Alex Jones, when Ed Martin at DOJ was supposed to be shaking down someone involved in the Sandy Hook case, Alex Jones said, here's the letter. They're working on my behalf. And then they had to pull it back.

[Tim Miller]

I'm changing the subject for the last time because you sent a tweet, Will, over the weekend that made me actual lol. Not just write lol like millennials do. We write LOL for everything, even though we don't laugh. But I was audibly guffawing to myself. And it was about this poster, this movie poster that was created online that was getting circulated about an alleged Turning Point USA super bowl halftime show, an alternate halftime show to compete Bad Bunny on the screen here so people can look at it. I want everybody to look at it very closely, see if you notice anything. That's pretty believable. It's believable enough that several mega influencers retweeted it. But you've got an eagle eye. You've got a bald eagle eye, if you will. There will. What do you notice about that that makes you think that's not true?

[Will Sommer]

Well, at the very bottom it says a special appearance from Measles.

[Sam Stein]

Is that not a band?

[Will Sommer]

Well, you know, even.

[Sam Stein]

Are they in the indie scene? They're not in the indie scene. Okay.

[Will Sommer]

All these. Some guy from Infowars. All these people were like, this is going to be 100 better than bad Bunny. This is going to rock. And then one person was a little skeptical and said, you know, who the f is this band Measles? Still missing the joke.

[Tim Miller]

I don't know.

[Sam Stein]

They went platinum last year.

[Tim Miller]

You can't put one past these guys. All right. The trio was back together again. Good to see you boys. That's Sam Stein. That's Will Sommer. Subscribe to the feed. We're gonna start doing bonus behind the scenes content. NC17. So you want to be some become a subscriber today. It's not true. We'll see. See y' all soon.