House Speaker Mike Johnson has finally been cornered on the ugly allegations against Republican Rep. Max Miller, and whether he supports the under-fire congressman.
Miller and Republican Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno’s daughter, GOP political operative Emily Moreno, have been engaged in a bitter custody battle over their 2-year-old daughter that has spilled into a public showdown.
Their legal dispute has publicized Moreno’s allegations that the two-term congressman, vying for another term, has poured hot water on her, beaten her, pointed a gun at her head, and broken the collarbone of their toddler. He has repeatedly denied the allegations.
In a detailed interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Miller said he had the support of Johnson. The Speaker himself was lukewarm on this assessment when pressed by Politico.
“I think what Max is suggesting there is that I’ve been intellectually consistent. … We don’t take disciplinary action against members for allegations,” he told The Conversation with Dasha Burns.
He also tried to downplay the saga, telling Burns, “I haven’t spoken to Max about this in the last few days. Of course, I will. There’s all sorts of domestic events going on with 435 members of Congress all the time, it’s not my business to get engaged in it.”
Miller used the CNN interview, as well as a 20-minute livestream on X earlier this week, to fight his case, pointing out that after multiple investigations, he was found to be innocent.
Miller refused calls to drop out of the Ohio race, and a House Ethics Committee investigation was launched at the rep’s behest. It will look into the domestic abuse claims, as well as allegations of illegal drug use by Miller.
“I think Max is taking them [the allegations] seriously. I think our colleagues are,” Johnson said of the allegations. “But, again, we have to allow this process to play out. It’s just begun.”
“It’s, in his own words, a nasty divorce proceeding, and it’s gotten ugly, and it’s gotten public,” he added. “But he’s saying the same things privately to members that he is publicly, that he denies all this. … There’s a process. The House Ethics Committee does that. We always withhold judgment on this, whether it’s Republicans or Democrats.”
The saga exploded on Sunday when Miller’s ex-father-in-law, Senator Moreno, broke two years of silence to call for him to drop out of the race. He contested that the 37-year-old fails the “basic standards of character” required to hold elected office.
“I believe Max Miller needs to seek professional help to end the clear pattern of abuse he has left in his wake. I believe he should not be free to continue endangering others until he does,” the MAGA Republican wrote on X.
On Sunday, Trump addressed the allegations surrounding Miller while saying he would “look at it.” “I mean, so far, it’s accusations,” he said at Joint Base Andrews, according to The New York Times.
Meanwhile, relations between Miller and Johnson have been fraught for months. Speaking to Politico in May, Miller vowed never to back Johnson for Speaker again, declaring that his colleague “divided us with a smile” and adding, “I wouldn’t trust him to get out of a wet paper bag with an M4.”
When pressed to respond during the latest interview, Johnson took the high road, remarking that “Max has had a lot of issues in his life” and stating he would not “return fire.”
