The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that a former Voice of America (VOA) employee has been indicted for a string of violent threats made against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), her staff, and members of her family.
The suspect, identified as Seth Jason of Edgewater, Maryland, was arrested early on July 17 by U.S. Capitol Police in coordination with local law enforcement. According to a joint press release from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and Capitol Police Chief Michael G. Sullivan, Jason faces multiple serious charges, including:
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Influencing a federal official by threatening a family member
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Influencing a federal official by threat
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Interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure
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Anonymous telecommunications harassment
The indictment outlines that between October 11, 2023, and January 21, 2025, Jason placed eight threatening phone calls to Greene’s district offices in Dalton and Rome, Georgia. The threats, according to investigators, included explicit references to firearms and violent intent against Greene, her staff, and their families.
Alarmingly, the calls were traced back to phone lines located inside the VOA’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, where Jason was employed at the time. The phones used were connected to various control rooms and studio facilities, indicating the threats were made while Jason was on federal property using taxpayer-funded equipment.
US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro has just announced that a longtime former Voice of America employee, Seth Jason, has been indicted for making eight calls over the last 15 months threatening to murder Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, her staff, and their… pic.twitter.com/ZRhNLtgvAG
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) July 17, 2025
If convicted on all charges, Jason faces up to 17 years in federal prison.
The case has drawn swift and forceful reactions across the conservative landscape. Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk wrote on X, “The calls were made from INSIDE the offices and studios of VOA. It’s starting to make a lot of sense why Kari Lake decided VOA had become so corrupt and radical that it needed to be completely dismantled.”
Kari Lake, who oversaw parts of U.S. international broadcasting during the Trump administration, expressed horror at the alleged abuse of government platforms: “It angers me that a taxpayer-funded VOA employee would use taxpayer-funded equipment in a depraved way to threaten the lives of people, including an elected official… If he is found guilty, I hope he is sentenced to the maximum amount of time behind bars.”
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.
The phone calls came from inside the VOA studios and control room where threats were made to the district offices of…— Kari Lake (@KariLake) July 17, 2025
Lake went on to renew calls for the dismantling of both Voice of America and its parent agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media. “The alleged actions leading to this arrest illustrate only a small part of the past rot at Voice of America… President Trump wants the agency eliminated—I agree with him—it’s time to shut it down.”
The incident also resurfaced tragic consequences of previous threats. In December, an innocent woman was killed in a car accident involving a Rome Police bomb squad officer responding to a false threat at Greene’s residence. Greene mourned the loss, calling it an example of how “violent political threats have fatal consequences” and highlighting the burden these threats place on law enforcement.
