Tax-Funded Threats Target Congresswoman

Empty courtroom with wooden furnishings and judges bench.

A taxpayer-funded media worker spent 15 months phoning in death threats against a pro-Trump congresswoman before finally landing in federal prison.

Story Snapshot

Former Voice of America employee Seth Jason ran a 15‑month death threat campaign against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Jason pleaded guilty to two federal felonies after making eight threatening calls from inside Voice of America headquarters.
The threats targeted Greene, her staff, and her family and referenced firearms and execution-style violence.
Voice of America has offered no public explanation for how its systems were used for this campaign on the taxpayers’ dime.

How a Government Media Insider Targeted a Conservative Lawmaker

Federal prosecutors say sixty-four-year-old Maryland resident Seth Jason spent fifteen months making violent, anonymous calls to the district offices of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Dalton and Rome, Georgia.^[8] Court records show that between October 11, 2023, and January 21, 2025, Jason placed at least eight separate calls threatening Greene, her staff, and her family. Investigators say he used multiple phone lines tied to studios and control rooms inside Voice of America headquarters, where he was a longtime employee.^[8]

According to the indictment and later plea documents, Jason’s threats focused on firearms and killing Greene and those around her.^[8] Prosecutors say he used different names, including “Kevin” and “Ruben,” as he tried to hide his identity while calling from a federal building paid for by taxpayers.^[6] The calls were not stray outbursts. They formed a pattern over more than a year, which investigators and the court treated as a sustained campaign to terrorize an elected official and her team.^[8]

What Jason Admitted in Court and How the Case Ended

The United States Department of Justice reports that Jason pleaded guilty in federal court to two charges: interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure, and anonymous telecommunications harassment.^[2] The original indictment had four counts, including two separate offenses for influencing a federal official and a family member by threat, but prosecutors agreed to resolve the case with pleas on only two of them.^[8] That deal still exposed Jason to a combined statutory maximum of seven years in prison for his admitted conduct.^[2]

In describing the calls, prosecutors highlighted two voicemails tied to President Trump’s second inauguration.^[2] On January 8, 2025, just twelve days before the ceremony, Jason told Greene’s office she would not “see the inaugural” because she, her staff, and her family would be dead.^[2] On January 21, 2025, he escalated again, saying Greene and her staff “were as good as dead” and urging them to “make your last will ready,” adding that the only thing they would hear was “bang” as he yearned to hear her cry for her last breath.^[2]

Taxpayer-Funded Platforms, Rising Threats, and Missing Accountability

Voice of America is a government-funded broadcaster, meaning Jason’s threats were made from phones, offices, and systems paid for by American taxpayers.^[9] The Justice Department notes that every one of the eight calls came while Jason was physically inside Voice of America headquarters in Washington, D.C., using its internal lines.^[2] Yet in the available reports, Voice of America has not publicly explained how a longtime studio supervisor and lighting director could abuse its infrastructure for fifteen months without being stopped or even flagged by internal controls.^[8]

This case lands in a broader surge of threats against public officials nationwide. The United States Capitol Police say their threat assessment section handled 9,474 concerning statements and direct threats against members of Congress, their families, and staff in 2024, continuing a steep rise over recent years.^[17] The Brennan Center for Justice reports that threats investigated by Capitol Police in 2023 were about fifty percent higher than in 2018 and ten times higher than in 2016, hitting lawmakers in both parties.^[16]