By Alanna Durkin Richer and Eric Tucker
A Massachusetts man was arrested Thursday in a federal case alleging he cyberstalked conservative podcaster and former Trump administration official Katie Miller, targeting her dozens of times with menacing phone calls and messages, according to court papers.
Authorities say the man contacted Katie Miller at least 40 times over the course of several weeks, sometimes leaving disturbing voicemails and text messages about her and her husband, Stephen Miller, who serves as White House deputy chief of staff. He also sent messages to phone numbers for her parents, according to prosecutors.
John Anthony Proia III, 41, is charged with one count of cyberstalking. An attorney listed for him didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Thursday.
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The court documents do not identify the victim by name, but a person familiar with the matter confirmed that it is Katie Miller. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss non-public parts of the investigation.
“Those who use technology to harass, intimidate or torment others should understand that attempts to anonymize their criminal conduct will not shield them from prosecution,” Leah Foley, the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, said in an emailed statement. “We will find you, and we will hold you accountable.”
The investigation contributed to upheaval inside the FBI’s Washington field office, where two top counterterrorism supervisors were recently reassigned by the office’s leader in part because of dissatisfaction over their handling of and approach to the Miller probe, according to multiple people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss non-public personnel changes.
Darren Cox, the assistant director in charge of the Washington office, said in a statement that the reassignments were not ordered by Director Kash Patel and that the moves were a personnel decision “based on our constant evaluation of mission needs. Any suggestion otherwise is false.”
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