Timothy DesJarlais, a staffer for Supervisor Ally Miller, resigned last week as an investigation into a short-lived news website continues.
In mid-May, someone identifying himself as Jim Falken, editor-in-chief of the recently formed Arizona Daily Herald website, sent emails to several county supervisors and supervisor candidates requesting comment on Miller’s proposed road improvement plan.
Shortly after the Tucson Sentinel interviewed DesJarlais about the possibility of he and Falken being one and the same, the website was taken down.
Miller and DesJarlais both denied the staffer had anything to do with the emails or website, and alleged that someone had adopted the online identity to embarrass the supervisor. On her campaign Facebook page, Miller wrote on May 20 that she and DesJarlais had filed complaints with the FBI’s cyber-crimes unit.
Shortly thereafter, Supervisor Sharon Bronson requested that county administration look into whether county staff or resources were involved in the Arizona Daily Herald, after which County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry asked the sheriff’s and county attorney’s offices to review the matter.
In response to questions Monday from the Star, Miller said “I still believe that (DesJarlais) had nothing to do with the AZ Herald emails,” and that she would “continue pursuing” the FBI investigation to “find out who caused such disruption of business operations in my office.”
