T. Christian Miller

Reporter

Photo of T. Christian Miller

T. Christian Miller is a reporter for ProPublica. In more than 25 years as a professional journalist and foreign correspondent, Miller has covered four wars, a presidential campaign and reported from more than two dozen countries. He has won numerous accolades for his work in the U.S. and abroad, including two Pulitzer Prizes: one in 2016 for Explanatory Reporting, which he shared with co-author Ken Armstrong for coverage of sexual assault; and a second in 2020 for National Reporting, which he shared with colleagues Robert Faturechi and Megan Rose for coverage of the U.S. Navy. In 2015, he won two Emmy Awards for his work with Marcela Gaviria on a PBS Frontline Documentary about the link between the Firestone tire company and the Liberian war criminal Charles Taylor. Miller’s work has been featured in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, PBS Frontline, PBS Newshour, NPR and All Thing Considered, among other major media outlets.

As an investigative journalist, Miller specializes in the military and international affairs. He has extensive experience with public records, the Freedom of Information Act and data-driven reporting. In 2011, Miller was awarded a yearlong Knight Fellowship to study at Stanford University. He has lectured at the University of California at Berkeley, Stanford, the University of Southern California, Columbia and Duke, among other schools. Miller has served as an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and as a member and treasurer of the Board of Directors for Investigative Reporters & Editors.

During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Miller was the only journalist in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to covering the reconstruction process. Miller's groundbreaking work led to the expulsion of a top Pentagon official, the cancellation of a major arms contract and the initiation of several investigations. His work on traumatic brain injuries in the military led the U.S. Army to award Purple Hearts for such wounds. In 2006, Miller published Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives and Corporate Greed in Iraq (Little, Brown), which the Washington Post called one of the “indispensable” books on the Iraq war. In 2018, Miller and Armstrong published A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America (Crown Books), described as a “riveting true-crime story” by O: The Oprah Magazine. Their work was the basis for the Netflix miniseries Unbelievable, which won a Peabody Award and attracted 32 million viewers worldwide.

Miller was a foreign correspondent based in Bogotá, Colombia where he covered that nation's guerrilla conflict and its connection to Washington's war on drugs. While there, he was briefly captured and held hostage by leftist guerrillas. Miller graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with highest honors. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and three children.

Help Us Find Out Whether Navy Reforms Are Actually Making a Difference

The Navy promised to implement reforms in the wake of two deadly 2017 crashes. We’re trying to find out how it’s doing — and we need to hear from sailors in all six of the numbered fleets that patrol the world’s oceans.

Navy Promised Changes After Deadly Accidents, but Many Within Doubt It’s Delivering on Them

Interviews and an examination of the Navy’s publicly announced reforms raise uncertainty over whether senior leaders have fully followed through on them after the 7th Fleet disasters in 2017.

Investigation of Disasters Sparks Debate Over Navy’s Readiness and Responsibilities

ProPublica’s examination of the causes behind two fatal collisions in the Pacific has set off an intense conversation among current and former Navy sailors and commanders as well as everyday citizens about the state of the U.S. Navy.

Senate Committee Grills Navy Official Over 2017 Collisions, Seeking Data to Prove Conditions Have Changed

During an Armed Services Committee hearing that referenced ProPublica’s investigation into the deadly mishaps, a senator pressed the top commander in the Pacific to give “real numbers,” “not promises and not good feelings.”

In Navy Disasters, Neglect, Mistakes, and 17 Lost Sailors

Snapshots of the sailors who perished in a pair of collisions in the Pacific in 2017.

Years of Warnings, Then Death and Disaster

How the Navy failed its sailors

Death and Valor on an American Warship Doomed by its Own Navy

Investigation finds officials ignored warnings for years before one of the deadliest crashes in decades.

FBI’s Violent Crime Database to Get Financial Boost From Justice Department

The infusion of money for the FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program comes after ProPublica reported on shortcomings in the use of a database meant to assist in capturing serial killers and rapists.

Texas Lawsuit Alleging Fraud in Construction of First Border Wall Comes Apart

Hidalgo County’s claims of improper enrichment by a former employee and his family are either dismissed or withdrawn. Employee sees vindication; the county says it could appeal or head to federal court.

New Details Alleged in Scheme to Make Millions Off First Border Wall in Texas

The latest lawsuit filing in Hidalgo County talks of kickback deals worked out over drinks and steak dinners.

How a Local Bureaucrat Made Millions Amid the Rush to Build a Border Fence

The feds faced a deadline to finish the first version of a border wall. Godfrey Garza Jr. of Hildalgo County, Texas, made it happen, and made himself a small fortune along the way. Other than Garza, no one seems too happy about that.

A Border Wall’s Uncompensated Victims

Scores of Texas landowners in the shadow of the border wall say the government should pay them for their damaged property values.

The Taking

The federal government’s boldest land grab in a generation produced the first border wall — and a trail of abuse, mistakes and unfairness.

For Some Victims, Reporting a Rape Can Bring Doubt, Abuse — and Even Prosecution

False reporting is a crime, one that some police would like to make a priority. But history shows the police can’t always tell the truth from a lie.

Will Texas Massacre Finally Get Military to Improve its Criminal Reporting System?

The Air Force’s apparent failure to send the criminal records of the airman behind Sunday’s mass killings to civilian authorities allowed him to obtain guns. Such reporting failings are widespread and longstanding.

Border Agency Set to Jumpstart Trump’s Wall in a Texas Wildlife Refuge

Customs and Border Protection indicates it will use its own funds to build 3-mile segment of wall amid one of the nation’s most cherished bird-watching locales.

Trump’s Wall: How Much Money Does the Government Have For It Now?

$20 million. That’s enough to cover the cost of seven miles of wall.

Trump’s ‘Buy American’ Pledge May Be At Risk With His Border Wall

Current trade agreements mean foreign companies, including some big firms in Mexico, might well get in on the building of the president’s wall.

The First Brick in the Wall

The Trump administration solicits bids for first $600 million of work on a wall whose total cost no one knows.

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