The House Ethics Committee Lets Its Deadline Pass Without a Word on Max Miller, the NRCC Puts $450,000 Behind Him, and the House GOP Conference Chair Says "I Support Anybody With an R Behind Their Name" — While Six Republican Senators, Including Both of Ohio's, Have Told Him to Go
Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) has been under a House Ethics Committee investigation since early August 2026, opened at his own request after his ex-wife, Emily Moreno — the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) — alleged in a July 30 restraining-order filing that he threw scalding water at her, held a gun to her head and fractured their two-year-old daughter's collarbone. Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, an ex-girlfriend, has also accused him of abuse. Miller denies everything, has sued Moreno for defamation, and is running for a third term in Ohio's 7th District. Friday, September 4 was the committee's 60-day mark to release findings or recommend punishment before the election. It did neither, effectively pushing any action past November. The same week, the National Republican Congressional Committee announced roughly $450,000 in coordinated television advertising for Miller starting September 7, and Rep. Michael Rulli (R-Ohio) said a censure vote was probably "not going to be on the table" after reports surfaced of Democratic challenger Brian Poindexter's 1998 and 2013 arrests. On September 6, House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress, was asked on CBS's "Face the Nation" whether she still supported Miller's reelection. "Listen, divorces are ugly," she said. "I support anybody with an R behind their name." Pressed on the six Republican senators who had called for Miller to resign — Katie Britt, Jim Banks, Jon Husted, Roger Marshall, Shelley Moore Capito and Tim Sheehy, who called Miller "clearly a degenerate sociopath" — McClain said "they've tried that avenue, and he's chosen to stay in the race," and "at the end of the day, he's our nominee right now." Her comments matched Speaker Mike Johnson's, who said on August 31 that Miller "has been a great member of Congress" with "some issues in his personal life he's working through." President Trump, who called the dispute "a very sad thing" in public, privately told Miller in early August that "things aren't looking good." The DCCC added Poindexter to its "Red to Blue" list on August 11, and Cook Political Report rates the seat a toss-up.
“I think they've tried that avenue, and he's chosen to stay in the race. So, like I said earlier, divorces are really ugly. I hope this comes out that he's okay, but at the end of the day, he's our nominee right now.”