FBI arrests Massachusetts man accused of stalking conservative podcaster Katie Miller

The FBI arrested a man Thursday accused of stalking former Trump administration adviser Katie Miller, an administration official familiar with the investigation told NBC News.

John Anthony Proia III, 41, was arrested and charged with stalking following allegations that he called, texted and left voicemails containing “disturbing messages” about the victim, described as a former political adviser, and her husband, who is currently a high-level federal government employee, the Justice Department said in a news release.

The Justice Department has not named Katie Miller, although an administration official familiar with the investigation confirmed to NBC News that the victim is Miller, who is married to White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller and hosts a popular conservative podcast.

“Thank you Todd Blanche, Leah Foley and the FBI Washington Field Office for keeping me and my family safe. It’s good to see a Boston grand jury indict this man,” Miller wrote in an article on X Thursday, referring to Attorney General Todd Blanche and U.S. Attorney Leah Foley.

Proia was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Boston on one count of cyberstalking after being arrested earlier in the day. He allegedly contacted the former political advisor more than 40 times in less than two months, according to the Justice Department.

The defendant also allegedly sent disturbing messages to Miller’s parents between August 2026 and September 2026 cited in court documents.

“As the indictment alleges, the defendant repeatedly and relentlessly targeted the victim, her husband and her family with deeply disturbing communications that profoundly disrupted their lives,” Foley said in a statement.

Ted Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston division, wrote in a statement Thursday that Proia was arrested “for allegedly engaging in a sustained campaign of harassment intended to frighten this victim and her family, causing significant emotional distress.”

Proia made calls, sent text messages and left voicemails from an “ever-changing series of unknown phone numbers” to Miller, who lives in the Washington, D.C., area, the DOJ said.

The ministry added that these phone numbers were obtained through applications that provide toll-free phone numbers for calling and sending messages via Voice over Internet Protocol. The apps allow a user to hide their identity and easily generate new phone numbers, according to court filings.

According to court documents, Miller would sometimes receive multiple communications from Proia in a day, including calls made late at night. Miller answered some calls, but Proia also left voicemails, the DOJ said.

The calls “reportedly were made by what appeared to be a male caller employing a threatening tone and often using expletives,” the Justice Department said.

The Justice Department also detailed some text messages sent to phone numbers associated with Miller’s parents.

In one message, Proia allegedly wrote to Miller’s mother, calling Stephen Miller a “bad guy” and Katie Miller a “creature.” Another post reportedly featured a photo of Katie Miller, while another said: “God, how can you be proud of this filth?”

In a text message to the victim’s father, Proia allegedly wrote: “Hey (victim’s father’s first name), how’s it going? I hope your daughter marrying a Jewish Nazi/white supremacist works out for you and (victim’s mother’s first name). Did you raise her to be trash or did it happen naturally?”

Proia’s arrest comes after Bloomberg reported over the weekend that two senior FBI officials in Washington had been demoted and reassigned to FBI headquarters over concerns that the agency was not acting effectively enough to investigate threatening phone calls to Miller, three people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

Darren Cox, deputy director in charge of the agency’s Washington field office, said in a statement to Bloomberg that the move was a personnel decision made at the field office level based on “our constant assessment of mission needs.”