Max Miller and ex-girlfriend Stephanie Grisham ordered to remove social media posts in GOP lawmaker’s latest court fight

By Lauren Fox, CNN

(CNN) — GOP Rep. Max Miller spent Monday morning not on the campaign trail, but Zooming into an Ohio courtroom in a dispute with ex-girlfriend and former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, the second time the embattled congressman has been forced to appear in county court in less than a week.

As House lawmakers return to Washington for a sprint ahead of the midterms, Miller appeared from DC via Zoom to address whether he violated a 2023 settlement agreement with Grisham. That agreement came after Grisham alleged Miller abused her, he denied the allegation and then sued her for defamation. As part of their deal, Grisham and Miller were barred from disparaging each other publicly.

It’s the latest legal battle facing Miller as he runs for re-election in a district Trump won in 2024 by more than 10 points but Republicans now fear will be competitive over his legal and personal issues. The congressman has faced calls from some Senate Republicans to step down, but Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN on Monday that he supports Miller’s reelection bid, calling him “a great member of Congress.”

Miller is also locked in a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, the daughter of GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno. She has alleged that Miller abused her, including holding a gun to her when their daughter was an infant. Miller has denied the allegations. Miller came to court in person in that custody case last week.

Zooming in to the wood-paneled courtroom Monday, Miller faced questions over his social media habits, recent media interviews and whether he called Grisham a liar after the two of them entered into the 2023 settlement agreement.

After hours of testimony, the judge issued preliminary injunctions against Miller and Grisham and ordered both parties to take down numerous social media posts that could be construed as disparaging the other.

Miller was pressed on a post from his X account on May 7 describing audio of Emily Moreno discussing allegations Grisham made against the congressman. Along with the audio, the post read, “here is a recording from 2024. In it, Ms. Emily Moreno admits 1.) everything alleged by Stephanie Grisham was fabricated.”

Grisham told the court the post had caused damage to her reputation and shattered the peace she sought in the aftermath of the 2023 settlement agreement.

“When a sitting member of Congress calls you a liar, that is a pretty big deal in political circles,” Grisham testified.

Miller argued he never posted any of the material himself and does not have social media on his cell phone. He also argued that his job makes him too busy to be concerned with constant updates to social media, and blamed the May 7 posts on staffers.

“I didn’t instruct them to do this, period. They just did it,” Miller said of the posts.  “You are making it seem like Twitter is 90 percent of a congressman’s job.”

The congressman was also pressed on two separate news interviews he did, including one with CNN’s Jake Tapper.

In that interview, Tapper asked Miller specifically about Grisham and Moreno’s allegations and whether people were supposed to believe they were lying. Miller told Tapper “yes,” which Grisham’s lawyers argued was a breach of the agreement.

At another point in the interview, Miller told Tapper that he could not get into details about the Grisham allegations because of a settlement agreement that had been reached.

Miller argued in court Monday that he was merely defending himself in the interviews, and that Grisham disparaged him first in the court of public opinion. He also argued that public accusations can cause reputational harm even if they are not true.

“We live in a society where the court of public opinion matters more than facts, at least in my world,” he told the court.

The congressman’s lawyer Adam Brown alleged that Grisham posted on April 22 about Miller, although she did not do so by name. Brown pointed to a post in which Grisham wrote on X on April 22, “Today I feel broken over what so many men with money and power get away with over & over & over,” with a broken heart emoji. “Almost worse is those of you who know & do/say nothing as it happens time & again.”

April 22 was the same day that TMZ published a story about Miller with the headline “police investigate child neglect claims in nasty custody battle.”

Grisham testified the post was not about Miller, but was a reference to several developments in the ongoing controversy around convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which has generated regular news headlines.

During her testimony, Grisham also argued that Miller’s statements about her had an impact on her personal and professional life, that she suffered from worsening anxiety and often turned down opportunities to participate in television appearances out of fear that she may be asked about Miller, an issue she said she couldn’t address given the settlement agreement.

“It has been horrible,” she said.

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CNN’s Alison Main, Manu Raju and Casey Riddle contributed