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.

Iraq War Contractor Fined for Late Reports of 30 Casualties

The Sandi Group was fined $75,000 after delaying reports to the U.S. government that more than 30 of its workers had died or been injured.

Aftershock: The Blast That Shook Psycho Platoon

Five soldiers injured in the same 2009 bomb blast are a case study in a new epidemic among America's troops, who are grappling with a combination of concussion and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Injured War Contractors Sue Over Health Care, Disability Payments

A class action lawsuit filed in federal court demands $2 billion, alleging that private contracting firms and their insurers abandoned employees injured working for the government in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Gov't Watchdog Criticizes Pentagon Center for PTSD, Brain Injuries

The Pentagon’s Defense Centers of Excellence are plagued by management weakness and obscure finances, according to recent Government Accountability Office reports.

Long Path to Courtroom for War Contractor Accused of Bribery

George H. Lee was indicted this week—almost seven years after he allegedly traded bribes for contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. Insurance Firm Neglects Survivors of Iraqi Translators, May Face Criminal Charges

Chicago-based CNA Financial Corp. faces possible investigation after failing to pay death benefits to survivors of Iraqi translators working to help the U.S. mission in Iraq.

New Survey: Few Troops Exposed to Bomb Blasts Are Screened For Concussion

Only about 1 in 5 soldiers and Marines say they have been tested to determine if they have suffered brain injuries. Military officials hope the numbers will improve now that a new policy is in place.

Critical Shortage of Army Neurologists for U.S. Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan

A military memorandum says that new requirements for diagnosing and treating brain injury has resulted in a shortage of Army neurologists on battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Timeline: How One Blast Affected Five Soldiers

Army Plans New Guidelines to Resolve Denials of Purple Hearts to Brain-Injured Soldiers

The Army’s move comes in response to an investigation published last September by ProPublica and NPR that revealed some soldiers had been wrongly denied the medal despite regulations that made them eligible for it.

A Partial Victory in Our FOIA Request — But Government Still Hasn’t Provided All the Records

Tricare provided ProPublica and NPR with some, but not all, of the reviews criticizing a Tricare study finding that cognitive rehabilitation therapy has not been proven effective.

Scientific Review Kicks Off to Weigh Treatment for Brain-Injured Soldiers

The National Institutes of Medicine convened the first of what's expected to be a series of public panels to help determine whether cognitive rehabilitation therapy could help heal troops who suffered traumatic brain injuries in Afghanistan and Iraq.

More Than 70 Members of Congress Demand Cognitive Treatment for Troops With Traumatic Brain Injuries

Citing an investigation by ProPublica and NPR, 74 members of Congress have signed a letter demanding that Tricare, the Pentagon’s health plan, provide treatment for troops with traumatic brain injuries.

Congress to Investigate Pentagon Decision to Deny Coverage for Brain Injured Troops

Sen. Claire McCaskill's committee wants to examine a contract between Tricare, the Pentagon's health plan, and ECRI Institute, which found insufficient evidence to support cognitive rehabilitation therapy.

American Legion Pushes For Coverage of Treatment for Troops With Brain Injuries

Citing an investigation by ProPublica and NPR, the nation’s largest veterans group is demanding that Tricare, the Pentagon’s health plan, pay for cognitive rehabilitation therapy

Pentagon Told Congress It's Studying Brain-Damage Therapy

The Pentagon told Congress last month that it was studying the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation therapy for brain-injured soldiers, the same treatment the Pentagon's health plan refuses to cover.

For Brain-Injured Soldiers, Top Quality Care From a Philanthropist, not the Pentagon

At Project Share, started by philanthropist Bernie Marcus, brain-injured troops get cognitive therapy rehabilitation to relearn basic tasks of life -- care the Pentagon's Tricare health plan won't pay for.

Pentagon Health Plan Won't Cover Brain-Damage Therapy for Troops

The Pentagon’s health care program run by Tricare denies coverage of cognitive rehabilitation to troops with traumatic brain injuries, claiming the treatment does not meet their standards, despite medical groups’ consensus that it improves the quality of life and despite criticism of the study Tricare did to justify its position.

How Our FOIA Request Was Blocked, and Why We're Still Pursuing It

A FOIA request for documents on a Tricare-commissioned study that concluded cognitive rehabilitation therapy was not effective was met with contradictory denials and explanations from Tricare and the company that did the study.

This Year, Contractor Deaths Exceed Military Ones in Iraq and Afghanistan

More than 250 civilian contractors have died in Iraq and Afghanistan in the first half of 2010, while 235 soldiers died in the same period, the first time contractor deaths have exceeded military ones.

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