Politics
NEW: Potential Threat Against MTG’s Life Is Thwarted
Authorities have arrested a government employee accused of making threats against the life of MAGA Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and members of her staff, all of whom were reported safe on Friday.
The individual, an employee at Voice of America, was arrested on suspicion of making repeated threatening phone calls to MTG’s congressional office. Seth Jason, 45, faces charges including influencing a federal official by threatening a family member and interstate communications with intent to kidnap or injure, according to an announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Capitol Police, and the police department for Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
Following Jason’s arrest on Monday, an unsealed indictment laid out the deranged musings of a man who harbored hatred for Greene and fellow MAGA aides over eight terrifying phone calls to her offices in Dalton, Ga. and Rome, Ga.
For 15 months, Jason allegedly masked various phone numbers to call from Voice of America offices where he worked on the public dime in studios and production rooms. Many of the calls included threats to shoot the congresswoman and members of her team.
“For 15 months, I received terrifying death threats from one individual who worked alarmingly close to my office building at the Voice of America. That kind of sustained, targeted harassment is deeply disturbing. I truly feared for my life, as I do with all of the death threats I receive. I want to thank U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, Senior Advisor Kari Lake, the Capitol Police, and the prosecutors who took this threat seriously and acted decisively to stop someone who was planning to kill me,” Greene told the Daily Caller.
“Threatening an elected official, their family, or their staff is not free speech; it’s a crime, and it must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. My family and I are incredibly grateful. Justice must be served.”
Convictions on influencing a federal official through threats to themselves or their family members carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Threatening to carry out kidnapping crimes across state lines carries an additional maximum sentence of five years per charge.
Using anonymous telephone numbers to issue threatening phone calls carries a maximum of two years’ sentence.
Kari Lake, President Donald Trump’s director for Voice of America, said her office cooperated with investigators to isolate the phone lines and determine that Jason was the culprit.
“A Voice of America Employee has been Indicted for Threatening Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene using phones at the VOA studios to threaten Greene and her staff,” she wrote on X.
“The phone calls came from inside the VOA studios and control room where threats were made to the district offices of Congresswoman Greene over a 15-month-period. The indictment says the VOA employee threatened to kidnap and use firearms to kill Greene, her staff and their families. The calls started in Oct. 2023 with the last call coming the day after President Trump was inaugurated,” she added.
“If he is found guilty, I hope he is sentenced to the maximum amount of time behind bars.”