Speaker Mike Johnson broke days of silence on explosive allegations of domestic abuse by Rep. Max Miller, calling for investigations to play out as Miller’s former father-in-law, a GOP senator, calls him unfit for office and Republican operatives fret about losing his Ohio House seat.
“I haven’t spoken to Max about this in the last few days. Of course, I will,” Johnson said in an interview for POLITICO’s “The Conversation” with Dasha Burns. “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.”
Pressed on the severity of the claims against Miller — which include holding a gun to the head of his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, and breaking the collarbone of his daughter — Johnson called the allegations “serious” but said he would let an Ethics Committee investigation run its course. Miller denies any wrongdoing and called the claims “politically motivated” Tuesday.
“I think Max is taking them seriously. I think our colleagues are,” Johnson said. “But, again, we have to allow this process to play out. It’s just begun.”
The Ethics panel announced Tuesday it would investigate the domestic abuse claims as well as allegations of illegal drug use by Miller, who had requested the probe earlier in the day in a bid to clear his name.
Hours later, in a CNN interview, Miller said, “Speaker Mike Johnson, everyone else — they’re standing behind me.”
Asked about his name being invoked, Johnson said, “I think what Max is suggesting there is that I’ve been intellectually consistent. … We don’t take disciplinary action against members for allegations.”
“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.”
Johnson’s comments came amid a campaign swing in Phoenix, where he is raising money for a pair of key races and touting legislative victories just months before the midterms. But he was also forced to address controversies plaguing Republican members that have snowballed as he and other leaders have largely stayed silent.
Johnson was more candid about the sexual harassment charges faced by Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina, who is facing a censure recommendation from the Ethics Committee. The panel concluded in a report issued Monday that he engaged in “persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers,” lavishing them with gifts and inundating them with unwanted texts, calls and invitations.
Edwards cooperated with the probe and did not challenge the factual findings, but his lawyers argued they did not rise to the level of censure.
In the interview, Johnson said those, too, are “serious allegations” and that he spoke with Edwards briefly Tuesday. He said he plans to talk to Edwards again soon about his reelection plans.
Like Miller, Edwards is facing a vigorous and well-financed Democratic challenger in a district that usually trends Republican but is unusually competitive this year due to the national political environment and the incumbents’ ethical challenges.
Asked if Edwards should drop his reelection bid, Johnson said, “He’s got to make a big decision, and I hope he does the right thing for him and his family.” As for Miller’s seat, he said, “I’m confident we’ll hold that district.”
Johnson noted that unlike with Miller, the Ethics Committee has completed its process, even though Edwards has contested the findings endorsed by the bipartisan panel.
“So we have to let our colleagues decide the fate of that,” Johnson said. The House could vote as soon as September on the censure recommendation.
Johnson said he also plans to speak with Miller. The Ohio lawmaker has until the end of this week to drop out if Republicans want to replace his name on the ballot.
The pressure on him to drop out exploded Sunday after his ex-father-in-law, Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno, broke months of silence and denounced Miller, saying he needed “professional help” and should not continue serving in the House. Several other Republicans followed suit — though not Johnson or other senior House GOP leaders.
Miller and Johnson have had a testy relationship in recent months. Miller told POLITICO in May that he would not vote again for Johnson as speaker and that he “divided us with a smile.”
“I wouldn’t trust him to get out of a wet paper bag with an M4,” he said of Johnson at the time.
Asked to respond in the interview, Johnson said, “I think you could ask every other Republican — they would tell you that’s not true.”
“Max has had a lot of issues in his life. I don’t return fire. That doesn’t bother me. And there’s a lot of criticism that comes with the job,” Johnson continued. “I’m not going to use this situation to say something negative about him.”
Miller, a former aide to President Donald Trump, said in the CNN interview that Trump called him Monday and said “it’s going to be a tough race” but did not insist he drop out. Miller went on to say he would take a page out of Trump’s book from the 2016 presidential election and carry on with his campaign.
Johnson said he was not positioned to intervene if Miller continues his campaign.
“I mean, [the allegations] don’t look good right now, of course. But again, what should a speaker do in this case?” he said. “I call out alarming behavior. I try to work every day on decorum and on the ethics of the House.”
“Look, I pine for the days when we don’t have these kinds of disturbances, when we got people who act in accordance with the dignity of their office. But people have domestic disputes,” he continued. “It’s part of being flawed humans, as we are, and we have to let those processes play out.”
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