Timothy DesJarlais insisted he was not the “Jim Falken” who created the faux news site the Arizona Daily Herald and now it appears that he has come out with his first edition. In response, Supervisor Ally Miller who may have been lied to by DesJarlais has reiterated her call for the investigation into the young former staffer’s actions.
Media Failures Exposed In AZ Daily Herald Coverage, DesJarlais Sets Record Straight
The azdailyherald.com site, which is now titled AZHerald, includes an article by DesJarlais about Congresswoman Martha McSally. DesJarlais has volunteered with McSally in the past.
Listen to Supervisor Miller on the James T. Harris radio show today discussing the issue
On May 19, after Miller called for the investigation, DesJarlais told the ADI in an email:
I did in fact launch a fake campaign site a few years ago and back in the day, during high school, I also did some nation simulations in which I created the fake character Jim Falken. I have however never done anything with those sites and that character since. The current AZ Herald website created and emails sent out were not done by me, and are the work of either a very crafty impersonator or simply just someone else who happened to use that (or have that) as their name.
Both Miller and DesJarlais filed reports with the FBI. Now, it appears that DesJarlais may have filed a false report.
DesJarlais issued a statement on Friday which includes remarkable claims and refused to identify the owner from whom he claims he purchased the domain in question:
Due to confusion by multiple news venues and community figures in Pima County, it has become incumbent upon us to ensure that the record is cleared regarding the ownership of the Arizona Daily Herald and the involvement of Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller in its creation or operation, if any at all.
On June 1, 2016, Timothy DesJarlais, an aide to Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller, emailed Supervisor Miller his notice of resignation, resigning from his post in her office and being relieved of all official duties. On that same day, Mr. DesJarlais purchased the domain “azdailyherald.com” from Google Domains and acquired ownership from the previous owner, who had agreed to relinquish it.
Promptly afterwards, Mr. DesJarlais set out to set up social media accounts for his new online news blog, but such accounts remained inactive until Mr. DesJarlais had served his last day at Supervisor Miller’s office, and the first activity on the registered domain took place June 10, 2016.
“Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller, to the best of my knowledge, has no involvement in the site whatsoever under its previous ownership, and to this day, she has no involvement in its content, creation or maintenance,” said Mr. DesJarlais. “Furthermore, I accept full responsibly for any articles published on the Arizona Daily Herald or its affiliated social media sites henceforth. I always had an interest in blogging and reporting, and even maintained a blog under the name of the “Tucson Trumpet” but upon my employment with Supervisor Miller, I ceased all activities. Upon my resignation, I had the opportunity to start up once again, and I chose the Arizona Daily Herald as my platform.”
Mr. DesJarlais sincerely hopes this clears up any confusion as to the ownership of the Arizona Daily Herald and furthermore admonishes to local media to focus on real issues and topics instead of tabloid reporting and hit pieces.
On the AzHerald site DeJarlais writes on the About page:
DesJarlais’ experiences in government give him an interesting perspective into the already tangled web of politicals. Having once worked for some of our region’s major players, DesJarlais knows what is at stake, and you can count on him to report the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!
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