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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), Is Interviewed About Rep. Max Miller Under Pressure To Resign Amid Abuse Allegations; House Ethics CMTE. Launches Probe Into GOP Rep. Max Miller; Todd Blanche Passes Key Hurdle, Advances Toward Confirmation; Sources: Key U.S. Missile Stockpiles "Dangerously Low"; Capital One Says It Closed Hundreds Of Trump Org Bank Accounts Over Money-Laundering Concerns. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired August 04, 2026 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. Eastern on all the major themes that we're watching ahead of these critical elections. If you're a CNN subscriber, you can stream the experience exclusively on the CNN app or you can go to cnn.com/SubscriberSeries where I invite you, submit your questions, you get to choose, and then David and I will read them and you can have some of those answers.
David, looking forward to seeing you in the morning tomorrow. We're looking forward to seeing you right here tomorrow as well. But don't go anywhere. "The Lead with Jake Tapper" starts right now.
[17:00:35]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN BREAKING News.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper and we start today in our Politics Lead because pressure is mounting for Ohio Republican Congressman Max Miller, a former Trump White House aide, to end his congressional reelection bid amid ugly allegations of physical and emotional abuse from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno. Emily is the daughter of Republican Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio. This afternoon, the House Ethics Committee announced it is, quote, "Reviewing allegations that Representative Max Miller may have engaged in domestic violence and abuse or illegal drug use," unquote. This after Miller officially made the request for the investigation into himself earlier today.
Miller's ex-wife, Emily Moreno, alleges that Miller at one point held a gun to her head, at a different point threw hot water on her during her marriage and threw her against the wall during a custody dispute. The allegations emerged during Moreno's police interviews as detectives investigated Miller and Moreno's two-year-old daughter's fractured collarbone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMILY MORENO, EX-WIFE OF REP. MAX MILLER: I was just like scared of him a lot and that's why I left the house and I moved out.
(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: No charges were ultimately filed in connection to their daughter's injuries against anyone. Now, Congressman Miller categorically denies all of these allegations, but the fallout has continued to dog his reelection bid in Ohio's 7th congressional district. The clock is ticking. The deadline for Miller to pull out of the race if he is going to so that his party can hold a special primary to fill the Republican nomination. Well, that is tonight.
Sources say that President Trump privately does not believe that Congressman Miller can win the race given these accusations. And presidential allies are urging Trump to tell Congressman Miller to drop out. Miller told CNN this morning that the president has not directly asked him to withdraw his name from the -- from the race.
Earlier today, Senator Moreno, Emily Moreno's father, well, until Sunday he had stayed silent on this sad affair. But after Miller shot a livestream on Sunday about the matter, Moreno then on Twitter called for his former son-in-law to drop out of the race and to seek help. And earlier today, Senator Moreno told journalists that this has been a brutal and horrific experience for his granddaughter, for his daughter and for the whole family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE MORENO (R-OH): This is truly the seventh level of hell. She has a little blue bunny that she sleeps with. Max would not hand over the little blue bunny. Literally held it hostage for 48 hours. This girl is crying at night because she can't sleep without a little blue bunny.
His answer is, I'm just not going to give it to you. So finally, yesterday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, yesterday, he lets the little blue bunny go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Here with us now to discuss Ohio Republican Congressman Max Miller. He's joining us from Los Angeles where President Trump will touch down this evening.
So Congressman, let's start there with your former father-in-law's story today about your daughter and the little blue bunny doll that she cannot sleep without. If it's true, that sounds like emotionally abusive behavior toward a toddler to refuse to give it to her when she can't sleep without it.
REP. MAX MILLER (R-OH): Jake, I would agree that if that were true, that would be incredibly disturbing and that the senator would be right. However, he has taken two years to publicly acknowledge for me to resign from my seat. Why is that, Jake? If he truly believed, like I'm a father to a two and a half year old daughter, I believe that you're also a father to children and I don't know if you're actually a father to a daughter. But what I can tell you is --
TAPPER: I am. MILLER: Well, Jake, then what I can tell you is, is that if my daughter came to me and she said my ex-husband did X, Y and Z and then I waited because I was nervous that a political livestream was going to expose a deeply impersonal, embarrassing matter to the senator for him to take that action, sadly, this has nothing to do with my daughter, Jake. And that's what this entire thing is about. This is nothing more this than an individual who's being politically vindictive in talking about a blue bunny when I have text messages I can show you from our parent coordinator who is a mandatory court reporter who said that Mr. Moreno would be coming over my home and then another individual came who I don't know.
TAPPER: Well, first of all, Congressman --
MILLER: Once again --
TAPPER: -- Congressman, you're fault --
MILLER: Yes.
TAPPER: -- you're faulting him for both not saying anything for two years and for saying something in the last two days.
[17:05:03]
MILLER: Well, that's because, Jake, and to be very clear --
TAPPER: It's possible that he didn't say anything because his daughter didn't want him to say anything because he didn't want this to become any more of a spectacle than it's become.
MILLER: You could say that. But also dealing with this in a private family matter, then why couldn't have we had a conversation a year ago? If Mr. Moreno felt this was the case, why do we now have to be here on national T.V. exposing all of our personal family drama? Why didn't he come to me and say, Max, I don't believe privately, you know, that you should be in the United States Congress and that you need to look for a pathway out. And I do believe my daughter.
TAPPER: I don't know. But it's not really --
MILLER: But that's not really conversations with --
TAPPER: -- the issue though, right? The issue is, the one I asked you about is did you hold this doll hostage? Because that is emotionally abusive behavior.
MILLER: No, Mr. Tapper. Mr. Tapper, no. And just furthermore than that, there have been two investigations that have already been looked into me and I would like to just have a little bit of moment to explain. The first investigation that was looked into me was that my ex-wife, Emily Moreno, filed a report of child abuse against me. That first incident, two individuals were held liable for abusing my daughter at a daycare which I have a private settlement agreement from. I was found not guilty. They looked at my fingerprints, they made me take off my shirt, they made me look at my body to make sure that I didn't abuse my daughter. And that was number one, Mr. Tapper. Number two, when I was reported for child abuse for my daughter, for a broken collarbone, my daughter was in my ex-wife's care nine out of the last 11 days. And she took her to the emergency room, which is a contempt violation from our shared parenting plan.
Furthermore than that, Mr. Tapper, is this, these matters have already been looked into. Ms. Moreno has already gone to the police. The police are not investigating it. Ask yourself, why aren't they investigating these things? You see yourself, I am not getting any special treatment.
I have never done these things. These things have already been investigated.
TAPPER: Yes.
MILLER: I have no police reports looked into me. And we actually have evidence, unlike the other side. And so, you know, it's an honor for me to have a platform like this --
TAPPER: Right.
MILLER: -- to continue to fight and to continue to show the American people that I've already been looked into.
TAPPER: Right.
MILLER: I'm happy to be looked into again.
TAPPER: Is there anything that your ex-wife or your former father-in- law, Senator Moreno, say about you that is true? I mean, Senator Moreno said on Sunday that you have admitted privately that you need to get help.
MILLER: This is where -- this is the unfortunate part about this business, Jake, is that he's never told me that. And that's an extreme projection. There's only one person between myself and Emily Moreno who's been actually diagnosed with a medical condition.
TAPPER: Right, but have you ever said that?
MILLER: And that's not me. Yes, and I have it in her own words that you can listen to.
TAPPER: But have you said it -- have you ever said that you need to get help, that you need to see a counselor?
MILLER: Oh, no. No, not to him. No.
TAPPER: No, to anyone. Have you said it to Emily?
MILLER: Oh, well, Jake, I think a lot of people within this country see a therapist. I've been seeing a therapist over the last decade of my life. This isn't anything new. I don't know why this would be any more important than anything else. I think it's healthy to talk to somebody and to share what's going on within your life and to work through problems.
I don't look at this as a negative thing for someone to seek therapy, to go through something.
TAPPER: Agreed.
MILLER: Yes, Jake, I've been seeking therapy for the last 10 years of my life --
TAPPER: OK.
MILLER: -- and I'm proud and honored to admit that.
TAPPER: When you did your livestream on Twitter or X on Sunday, you said you were doing so to protect your daughter and you --
MILLER: Yes.
TAPPER: -- did so. And you also released a Dropbox on X with files involving your family to show that you were a good dad. Now, one of the files was an image of your daughter naked. And it was available in that Dropbox for a day before that photograph was removed. It's an image that your ex-wife's attorney says could qualify as child sexual abuse material.
Your attorney has said that he is the one who did that and he apologizes. But it is shockingly reckless behavior by you and your team.
MILLER: I wouldn't say that it's shockingly reckless. That photo that was put in there is actually a part of an investigation by the Child and Family Protective Services and that is already public knowledge that people can go and they can look through court reported mandates. This is being taken very much out of context. There was no genitalia of my daughter that was exposed. And this is once again a very salacious headline.
TAPPER: It's not --
MILLER: And, Jake --
TAPPER: -- publicly available. We called --
MILLER: And, Jake, I just want to be --
TAPPER: -- the court today. It's not publicly available. But your attorney apologized.
MILLER: And I'm not -- you're right, I'm not defending it. It's awful. I don't like it. I don't --
TAPPER: You just defended it. You said it was taken out of context. MILLER: Well, because it is taken out of context in terms how the articles have been written about it. I didn't do this. My attorney took full responsibility. I believe that it's awful. There was never any intent to do that.
What I did on Sunday, OK, Jake, I went on CNN with Lauren Fox for a 45 minute interview about a month ago.
[17:10:01]
TAPPER: Right.
MILLER: And only --
TAPPER: We ran some of it.
MILLER: Right, right. You ran some of it, but only six minutes of that interview was played.
TAPPER: That's how it really works.
MILLER: The reason -- I know, Jake. But here's the deal, OK? She asked me a question and she asked me a very, you know, lace question and said, you know, your ex-father-in-law and your ex-wife say that your daughter is terrified to go to your home. Every single time they say she's terrified. I then played Lauren Fox three separate audio videos, three separate audio videos of my daughter saying, I do not want to go to mommies, I do not want mommies, and I do not feel safe.
None of that made it out there. Why? That is why --
TAPPER: Because it was recorded without her permission is my understanding of it.
MILLER: No, it's a one party consent in the state of Ohio. And this is what I've had to do in order to get my truth out. I mean, you could say this is what the media does. They take a 45 minute interview and they clip it to six minutes of what they want the American people to see. That's why I did the livestream to lay everything out, I'm not hiding.
TAPPER: Yes, but, Congressman, Congressman, I'm not talking about whether or not it was legal or illegal to record your ex-wife. I'm saying that the reason we didn't air it is because it was our understanding that the recording was done without her permission. That's something else. That's discretion. That's journalism.
That's not a question of legality.
MILLER: But --
TAPPER: But let's talk about it, because there is a police report from the suspected child abuse incident in February involving your daughter. And that report details that the child protection team says that your child had a right clavicle fracture and, quote, "a bruise that accompanies the injury that appears to be in a handprint and appears to have been inflicted," unquote. Now, your ex-wife stated to police that your child told her in the days leading up to the discovery of the injury, quote, "Daddy kill you." And your ex-wife also said your child had said, "Daddy angry and daddy's house is scary."
Now, according to your wife, your daughter articulated these statements to Children and Family Services. So can you explain why your child may have said those things?
MILLER: Jake, I wish you could talk to my beautiful baby girl. She can't string together sentences like that. She's two and a half years old. She doesn't have the ability to articulate any of what you just said. That is an entire fabrication of the truth.
I have actual video, actual documentation.
TAPPER: But didn't you just tell me that --
MILLER: I have been through two investigations.
TAPPER: You just told me that she had said that she was scared to go to Mommy's house.
MILLER: She is, and I have video of it.
TAPPER: But now you're saying that she's not capable of saying, daddy, kill you? I mean, it seems like she's either able to say one, but not the other. That doesn't make sense.
MILLER: Jake, to be very direct, this is incredibly disturbing. I am not going to my child to say, daddy, kill you. You have to look at the timing of everything that is taking place, right? What about due process? I have already been through these investigations, and I know that I've said that now three times, and we're kind of just blowing past this, but these are individuals who do their jobs to protect kids.
And the main job of the court and the main job of Child Protective Family Services and the main job of our judge who has been appointed to our divorce case is to make sure that our daughter is safe. And every single one of those individuals has agreed with me.
I have full shared parenting. I still have full medical parenting. Half. I still have full half education. If any of these things were true, Jake, a judge would have taken our baby girl out of my hands.
What you have is a very sadly politically motivated scenario to where, you know, people want to see me go away. And it's -- and all of this happened. And I'm not joking.
TAPPER: Yes.
MILLER: Take it for what you want. Look, this live stream --
TAPPER: But -- yes. MILLER: -- the impetus for the resignation, OK, came because an individual thought something was going to be said on that live stream that I had no intention of saying, and I still do not have any intention of saying.
TAPPER: So, but here's the thing, you're talking about a level of standard of proof that has to do with judges. And there is separately a different level of when it comes to what kind of behavior is tolerated among public officials. Because there are now three women, three women who have accused you of violent behavior.
POLITICO published a report in 2021 that says when you were in high school, you, quote, "Pushed a girl out of the dorm of his room and she fell down some stairs after he became enraged when she resisted his attempts to touch her, according to three people who were there and many more who heard about the incident in the aftermath." Now, you deny that, but the woman in question told Mother Jones reporter Abby Vesoulis just days ago that it happened and was, quote, "one of the more traumatic nights of her life."
MILLER: I would love for that individual --
TAPPER: Now, hold on --
MILLER: -- to go on the record because that --
TAPPER: OK.
MILLER: -- Jake, I was 13 years --
TAPPER: Hold on. Because I'm not done with the list of women --
MILLER: I know.
TAPPER: -- that have accused you of violence. Then there is former --
MILLER: That's --
TAPPER: -- White House press secretary. OK. You were young. Then there's a former White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, who was your ex-girlfriend. She accused you of being abusive and having a violent streak.
She wrote in her book, quote, "I could do nothing right by him. I would wake up every morning shaking within -- shaking with anxiety about his mood that day. I had seen his temper before and it had scared me," unquote. She has recently filed a temporary restraining order against you in a defamation case. And now there are these claims from your ex-wife, Emily Moreno. And I guess the question is, are all three of these women who don't know each other, are all three of them lying?
[17:15:20]
MILLER: Yes. It's very easy. And I can tell you why. Every single time, and people have asked me, you know, what are you going to do? Are you going to drop out of this race?
Are you going to resign? You know, are you going to get out before the deadline? And my answer to you, Jake, is no. And I can tell you why.
In 2016, when President Donald J. Trump faced the most extreme allegations in the world that hit him day after day after day and people in the media, very much like yourself and others, said that he would have no shot at winning, that he should not be the president of the United States. But guess what? He stayed in and he was resilient. And what the American people can see is that they can see that somebody is fighting who is resilient, and that is a quality that the American people cherish.
And so for no second am I going to sit here and continue to be debased by false and baseless allegations and be pushed out of his seat, I have worked so hard to represent and done a terrific job for our community. You know, my record in Congress on the Ways and Means and House Foreign Affairs and bringing back money for our district --
TAPPER: Right.
MILLER: -- and standing up for the Ukrainian people and also voting to protect Obamacare during this entire time, this is why no one's attacking me on my policy, Jake, because they can't. I've been a good legislator. All they're trying to do is create rumor mills without evidence. It's all hearsay. All hearsay.
TAPPER: Do you realize what -- it's not hearsay if it is firsthand testimony from women. And I just named three people that are providing firsthand testimony. That's not hearsay. But do you realize what it is in terms of how tall an order it is for voters and your colleagues and everybody watching right now to believe that three women who don't know each other made up accusations of you being violent and you are telling the truth here, they are lying. That is a difficult --
MILLER: Well, yes, I --
TAPPER: -- thing for people to believe, right?
MILLER: It's -- I mean -- no, not in this instance. Because every single one of these things that you're brought up, unlike other candidates throughout the country, I've already had investigations into. The domestic abuse allegation that you're referring to against my ex-wife, Department of Child and Family Services already reviewed that and they viewed that nothing happened. Bay Village Police Department.
Ms. Moreno filed the police report. The prosecutor looked at it. They looked at it for a very long time. There was nothing there.
My case is much different than everyone else that has been laid out before. Yes, I have tangible evidence. And I have also had investigations that have cleared me of every single thing --
TAPPER: Well, can I --
MILLER: -- that you have mentioned.
TAPPER: Except --
MILLER: To be clear --
TAPPER: Let's talk about this. Because in the custody lawsuit there was a discovery phase, and Emily Moreno's lawyers asked you a series of questions about past alleged incidents. And some of them you denied outright. No, that's not true, no, that's not true. And others you refused to answer at all. Your lawyers claimed they were not relevant.
And the ones you didn't answer include the incident involving the stairs or your past alleged drug use. If you ever referred to the birth of your child as, quote, "setting your playground on fire," if you were ever kicked out of college, you wouldn't --
MILLER: Well, I mean --
TAPPER: -- answer them. I can tell you that I never did any of those things. Why can't you?
MILLER: Because -- well, Jake, if you're wondering, I'm happy to answer those questions for you.
TAPPER: Well, I should -- I should say I have smoked marijuana.
MILLER: Right.
TAPPER: I'm sorry, I take that back. I have smoked pot before it was legal.
MILLER: So, OK.
TAPPER: I'm getting it all out on the table.
MILLER: Yes, and that's great. So have I. And I don't think, you know, previously, when I was younger or even, you know, a few years ago, there's anything wrong with cannabis uses. It's legal in 39 out of 50 states in the country.
TAPPER: In the Mother Jones story, it said when you were picked up for the drunk driving --
MILLER: But when you -- when you talk to me --
TAPPER: -- you had Ecstasy in your system.
MILLER: Look, once again, these are already investigations and we're bringing up things from 15 to 20 years -- I mean --
TAPPER: But why wouldn't you answer those questions in discovery? Why wouldn't you answer the questions about whether or not you would kick -- you would push that girl down the stairs?
MILLER: Well, because it never happened. Why would I give something credibility and answer for something that never happened? TAPPER: But you did that for other --
MILLER: And this woman is --
TAPPER: -- you did that for other questions.
MILLER: This woman -- this woman isn't even coming forward. I don't know who you're referencing. You know, unless these people actually put a name to these allegations and come forward, I don't know how the American people can continue to believe things like this.
TAPPER: When's the last -- when --
MILLER: And that is also considered --
TAPPER: When's the last time you ever used illegal drugs?
MILLER: Illegal drugs?
TAPPER: Yes. Because you're being investigated right now by the House Ethics Committee.
MILLER: The last time -- I don't -- I would have to say the last time I had illegal drugs would have been, I don't know, several years ago. I mean, I don't have a time frame on it, but I don't use illegal drugs.
TAPPER: Two? Twenty?
MILLER: No, Jake, this is what they're doing, OK? This whole, you know, needles thing, this is testosterone replacement therapy. People are painting this as something that it's not. Secretary Hegseth, who is the secretary of war, just three weeks ago allowed our entire military, who are males, to take testosterone replacement therapy. That's what I was doing.
[17:20:15]
TAPPER: OK.
MILLER: I have not been using any illegal drugs. This is nonsense. And this is much more of how Mr. Moreno and Ms. Mor -- you know, and my ex-wife are continuing to put this stuff out there --
TAPPER: Well, I think it's because there are --
MILLER: -- when I'm very open. TRT is legal.
TAPPER: -- three women that -- I think it's because there are three women that have alleged violence. I don't think any -- anything, any of this is actually about illegal drugs at all. I think it's because three women have alleged violent behavior by you and two of them are fairly high profile on the record, women.
MILLER: Jake, once again, the one part that I am never going to back down from and that the American people need to continue to look at is number one, I have had two full investigations that lasted almost a year into these child abuse --
TAPPER: Right.
MILLER: -- allegations --
TAPPER: Yes.
MILLER: -- and into these domestic abuse allegations. OK. And I have. And I have been cleared from that.
TAPPER: You say you never back down from it, but you sued Stephanie Grisham for defamation and then you backed down from that, that Trump -- that suit, right?
MILLER: Well, I would love -- I -- no, that's not true. There was a settlement agreement and so I would love to talk to you about that, but I can't. And so -- but I didn't back down from that and it was settled. And there's a reason for that. And that's all I can say regarding it.
TAPPER: Let me ask you --
MILLER: But if you're asking -- sorry, yes.
TAPPER: You spoke with the president yesterday. Did he tell you what he is telling aides privately that he does not think you can win?
MILLER: Look, the conversation I had with him yesterday at 9:00 a.m. and I've gotten a million phone calls about this and this is what's so troubling. Look, he called me and he said, Max -- he said, Maxey, it's going to be a tough race. And he said, I don't know if you're going to be able to, you know, pull this one out. And you know what, Jake? I reminded him of the same resilience that he had when people told him that he was going to struggle in 2016 and he became the 45th President of the United States.
And I have the utmost confidence that my constituents back home know me. This race is a home race. This isn't about what the national media thinks. This isn't about what people in California or New York or Florida think about what goes on in Ohio 7. What you're going to see here, Jake, is that I am going to be successful in this November because my constituents know who I am and they also know who my ex father-in-law is.
And they also know who my ex-wife is. And that's why you've seen people aren't running from me. My numbers in fundraising are strong. You know, Speaker Mike Johnson, everyone else, they're standing behind me. No one has told me to get off the ballot. And that's because they know I can win this seat and see this through.
TAPPER: So, let me just ask -- let me just ask --
MILLER: And that's what we're going to do.
TAPPER: Let me ask you one last question, and I do appreciate your taking the questions here.
MILLER: Yes.
TAPPER: Is there anyone in your life, whether it's Republican leadership or your family or your girlfriend or anyone, is there anyone saying it really might be in the best interests for your daughter and for your own mental health to drop out, take a moment, you're still a young guy, you can always come back. That it might be actually in your best interests to drop out --
MILLER: Yes.
TAPPER: -- and your daughter's best interests?
MILLER: You know, that is a question, Jake, I have been struggling with, you know, look, over the last couple of weeks. But I'm going to look at you the same way I think you would look at me if you were in my shoes, which is I am never going to give up. And what I mean by that is my daughter is going to grow up one day and she is going to see all of this and she is not going to see that her father caved to political and social media pressures for something that he never did. And furthermore than that, there are more than 50 percent of the people within this country who are divorced. And men get a really bad shake when it comes to family court.
And it's not addressed enough in any way possible. And so here's what I can tell you is that I've received more support than ever from our community, from the people where I live. And that is why we are going to stay in this race and be successful.
And look, you're right, the allegations, they're incredibly troubling. I agree they're troubling. But if they were true, I'd be in prison. And there's the only reason out of myself and other Republican colleagues that I'm the only one that doesn't have an active investigation into it.
And so at the end of the day, you know, I let the truth speak for itself. And the truth is right there. And I will never, ever, ever let my baby girl see her dad walk away as a quitter. I will continue to finish this. And if I have to run all the way to the end and I'm not successful, Jake, then that's a decision that I decide to make, and I can hold my head way up high, knowing that I fought for the truth, no matter what circumstances and no matter what came my way every single day.
That Ruthie Miller will know that she's proud of her dad, who bears my last name.
TAPPER: But you understand that the reason that this is a story is because it's not the first time a woman that you've been intimate with has accused you of violence and abuse. That's the reason.
MILLER: Well --
TAPPER: Now, it has nothing to do with political vendettas. It has nothing to do with Senator Moreno. It has to do with the fact that there are two women on the record and the third who has talked to reporters or a reporter about what happened in high school.
[17:25:11]
MILLER: And all I can tell you is this, Jake, is that I hope that you and the rest of the media do the same amount of digging as you are into me, as you will into those other two. Because as you can see right now, there's -- and I understand I'm the member of Congress, so deservedly so, the spotlight, the attention, the media, but throughout this process, objectively, how come people aren't asking the tough questions out of them? I mean, it's been a free Runway of just me being a punching bag without articulating my points and presenting the evidence that we have here today and others.
TAPPER: Because they're not -- they're not accused of physically abusing you. I mean, it's pretty simple.
MILLER: Well, Jake, I got to tell you, in this country, due process is a thing and everyone is entitled to it. And once again, I have been absolved of these claims that you continuously are bringing back up, especially the most recent one with Ms. Moreno. Once again, the Department of Child and Family Services and Bay Village Police Department took her report. They investigated everything that she said, both the Bay Village Police Department --
TAPPER: Yes.
MILLER: -- and both Child and Family Services. And you can see right now I'm not getting any special treatment, Jake. So if I really did those things, why wouldn't I be in prison? It's because it's an extreme fabrication of the truth.
And, look, at the end of the day, I'm going to continue to push. I am going to win this race and my daughter will see that her father is going to be back in there. And then when we come back next term, my hope is you and I can have other conversations that will be a lot better than this about how we can move our country forward.
TAPPER: Republican Congressman Max Miller, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it.
MILLER: Thank you.
TAPPER: All right, let's bring in two reporters who have covered Congressman Miller in depth, as well as the physical abuse allegations against him. We have with us CNN Correspondent Lauren Fox. And we have Abby Vesoulis, national politics reporter for Mother Jones magazine, both of whom is reporting was cited in the interview just then, either by him or by me. What did you make of that?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, I think he's going to stay in this race. He is clearly defiant. He clearly doesn't believe that he needs to exit, despite the fact that it's very clear. And he documented this that President Trump did lay out that potentially he may not win his race for reelection. And I thought it was really interesting that he basically turned the conversation back to the president and said, you know, nobody thought you were going to win, Mr. President. And look what happened in 2016.
TAPPER: That's the template these days.
FOX: Exactly. I mean, but there, you just saw it playing out in real time. What has changed about politics --
TAPPER: Yes.
FOX: -- in this country?
TAPPER: Graham Platner tried that, too.
Abby, what was your reaction?
ABBY VESOULIS, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, MOTHER JONES MAGAZINE: You know, I kept hearing him talk about how this is some media narrative that journalists are bringing forward, and it's not. It's documented, you know, court records, court filings from multiple court cases, multiple dockets. And there's instances of Emily Moreno telling the police that she was assaulted multiple times in different ways. And that's a serious crime in and of itself, lying to the police.
I also was surprised that he discounted the alleged staircase incident, because not only did that woman address how traumatizing that night was for her, POLITICO in 2021 reported that there were three witnesses who saw that. So is she lying in addition to three witnesses, in addition to Emily Moreno and Stephanie Grisham? That's a lot of people.
TAPPER: Well, you heard -- his argument is everybody's lying, except for him. I mean, he said that multiple times that everybody's lying except for him. And I guess ultimately that will be decided by the voters of Ohio 7Th congressional district.
Lauren, the House Ethics Committee launched this investigation today into allegations against him. Rumors of physical abuse, of course, were no secret before today. I want to play this exchange on the House floor. This is from three years ago. Congressman Miller and now former Congressman George Santos. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILLER: I myself have been a victim of George Santos and as well as other members of Congress in terms of defrauding through public donations ad received an ethics complaint from the FEC, which I had to spend tens of thousands to defend myself. You, sir, are a crook. I know I should direct my comments to the chair. I Yield back.
GEORGE SANTOS, (R) FORMER NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: Mr. Speaker. Hypocrisy, as I mentioned. My colleague wants to come up here, call me a crook. Same colleague who's accused of being a woman beater.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: We should know, by the way, that I think Congressman Max Miller's either mother or grandmother was a victim of George Santos' fraud. Just FYI. How long -- I mean, I guess the political story came out in 2021. So people have known about this for a while.
FOX: It's really interesting because the speaker often will cite the Ethics Committee as a reason why he doesn't want to weigh in on this case specifically. He always was saying this was a personal family matter. Obviously, Max Miller just earlier this morning said that he wanted the Ethics Committee to investigate. He wanted them to prove that he was not lying in some of these allegations against him.
[17:30:15]
But yet this Ethics Committee investigation, it's going to take months. That's the earliest. Some of these cases can go on for years. And certainly it isn't probably going to be finished by November. I'm sure that Congressman Miller is aware of these extended timelines. And it is something that Democratic and Republican women are trying to work together to find a way to put some timelines on these investigations because you can see how politically they can be used as a way to stay in office.
TAPPER: Well, let's remember the Matt Gaetz investigation did not -- was not released by the time he had been nominated to be attorney general. Mother Jones, you reported on instances of his past illegal drug use, including toxicology reports that showed he had MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy, and Klonopin, Klonopin in his system during this 2011 car crash. That's a long time ago. But what do you expect to hear from the drug use element of this ethics investigation? He wasn't very specific when I asked him when the last time he had used illegal drugs.
VESOULIS: Right. Yes. So --
TAPPER: Years, he said.
VESOULIS: So it's interesting that when "Politico" in 2021 reported on that 2011 crash, he was very adamant in the media that they cleared him of driving under the influence. And then I uncovered this toxicology report that says otherwise. And on multiple occasions he refused to comment on that. And now you've seen in recent days, there was today "Daily Mail" published a photo of some very potent marijuana edibles, I believe, and also a needle that is alleged to be Congressman Miller's or, sorry, yes, Congressman Miller's needle.
TAPPER: Yes. Although he kind of admitted it and said it was for testosterone. I mean, who knows.
VESOULIS: Right. Right. But like that suggests that, like he released audio also saying that, like he's never had needles in his bedside. But there is now a photo showing allegedly, you know, a needle by a bedside.
TAPPER: I mean, incredible reporting by both of you. What a thing. Lauren Fox and Abby Vesoulis, thanks so much for you and your reporting. Thanks for being here.
And of course, if you or anyone you know is impacted by domestic violence, there is help 24/7. It's at the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The website is the hotline.org, the hotline.org. You can call 1-800-799-SAFE, 1-800-799-SAFE.
Also today, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is one step closer to removing the acting from his title. How today's Senate committee vote also sets the stage for a new phase of Trump motivated investigations at the Justice Department. How exciting.
Plus, the brand new reporting inside Trump's explosive meeting with D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. Still has that job, at least as of now. This was yesterday at the White House. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:37:03]
TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, a full Senate vote to confirm Todd Blanche as permanent U.S. attorney general could happen within the next few days, after the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier today voted to advance his nomination onto the Senate floor. To convince the two Republican holdouts, Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Blanche formally rescinded the controversial anti- weaponization fund $1.8 billion. But legally nothing really changed. But politically it did.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): Given this agreement with Mr. Blanche, I expect the department to live up to this in future litigation and I will vote to advance him out of the committee today.
SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): The first one I called the payout pot for punks. I've never liked this 1776 funds. It made no sense to me and I thought it was an insult to the police officers and the people that defended us on January 6th. It's done, it's been rescinded and I am satisfied.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Blanche has said there is no funds. But is the funds truly dead, like forever, or is this funds going to be like Jason from "Friday the 13th" springing back up when we're least expecting it? That question was actually asked to Senator Cornyn himself. Given that President Trump keeps saying he wants this fund.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CORNYN: Well, there's nothing we could do to rein in the President when he said he likes the funds and he wishes still exists. But the fact of the matter, it's dead and that's all we could do under these circumstances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: There's nothing we can do to rein in the President is quite a remarkable quote from a U.S. senator. If only there were a co-equal branch of the government. Anyway, in the full Senate confirmation vote, Blanche is still not a lock. Some Republicans have not committed to backing Blanche, including Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and Maine Susan Collins and Louisiana's Bill Cassidy. Blanche can only lose two Republican votes given the fact that Senator Mitch McConnell is who knows where.
Let's discuss with CNN's Katelyn Polantz and Elie Honig, the former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. And Katelyn, Blanche eventually won over these two skeptics, Cornyn and Tillis. So in the full Senate vote, what specific parts of Blanche's record could be trouble spots with the undecided three senators we just mentioned?
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, there's one issue that had hung over Blanche for months and months and months until he had to deal with this anti-weaponization funds that he created with the President. That's the handling of the case against Jeffrey Epstein, the investigation and then also the redactions. Whenever the Department of Justice was going through millions of filings and putting those filings out in the public domain, there were failures across the board there where survivors names were doxed, their images were put out there in the public domain before the department fixed it.
[17:40:08]
And those victims, survivors are still very, very angry with Todd Blanche, a meeting that he had with them when Tillis was still on the fence there. When Senator Tillis wanted Blanche to meet with the Epstein survivors, they came out of that very dissatisfied and they still do not want him to be confirmed. This anti-weaponization fund is only one issue. It was the focus of much of the committee hearing this morning. There are still questions about whether what Blanche has done to close the book on that.
Does that even do anything? Could there be more? But the Epstein survivors, that is only one of the issues he's facing, but it is still a very big one.
TAPPER: Yes, we're going to talk to one of those survivors later in the show. Elie, let's take a listen to what Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey said earlier today about Todd Blanche.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): He is about Trump and not truth. He is about corruption and not the Constitution. He's about being Donald Trump's lawyer and not the people's lawyer. This is so deeply wrong. We will rue the day that we let this man have this much power under such a corrupt president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: When you look at Blanche's record so far as Deputy Attorney General and Acting Attorney General, what do you glean from the kind of U.S. attorney general he's going to be if he actually wins confirmation? ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Jake, under Todd Blanche's leadership over the last year and a half, DOJ's objective outcomes have been historically abysmal. They've lost huge case after huge case. They indicted Letitia James. Federal judge dismissed it. They tried to indict her twice more. Two grand juries rejected it. They indicted Jim Comey. Federal judge threw that one out. They have a second indictment that is in very troubling shape. They indict -- they tried to indict Senator Mark Kelly, Elissa Slotkin and others. Grand juries rejected that.
They investigated and subpoenaed the Fed and Jerome Powell. A federal judge quashed that subpoena. That investigation has been closed. They tried to subpoena "New York Times" reporters. Those subpoenas were basically forced to be withdrawn by another federal judge. And then just a few days ago, of course, the entire Reflecting Pool case collapsed in a humiliating mess. And I'm not saying prosecutors can or should win every case, but they're losing their biggest cases. And the reason is DOJ is putting politics first and prosecution second.
TAPPER: And actually, we do have some breaking news right now because Senator Susan Collins, who is one of the three undecided Republicans. And remember, President Trump's nominee can only afford to lose two. Susan Collins has come out against Todd Blanche. She is no longer undecided. In a statement that her office shared with News Center Maine, Collins called Blanche a capable lawyer, but said the Department of Justice is becoming increasingly political. It's basically everything you just said, Elie. He's taken several actions that have further eroded the department's independence, and that is the basis for my vote to oppose his confirmation. She listed three reasons.
His approval in order to shield Trump, his sons and his family business from IRS audits, Blanche's approval of the anti-weaponization fund, and his promise to an anti-abortion organization to prohibit the mailing of abortion medication. Katelyn, you also have some brand new reporting about President Trump's meeting with Jeanine Pirro, the current U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. what happened?
POLANTZ: Well, this was yesterday. She went to the White House. She took the documents that her team had put together on this Reflecting Pool case where they had alleged the ex-Olympian, David Hearn had ripped open the lining of the Reflecting Pool. He was charged with essentially an equivalent of vandalism. And Trump has really wanted to see that prosecuted. They unraveled that case, and Trump was furious with her.
Whenever she went to the White House, though, she was standing up what her prosecutors said in court. It was that the Interior Department had misled the U.S. attorney's office.
TAPPER: Right.
POLANTZ: They hadn't given them all the documents, and that they knew that the Reflecting Pool renovations that Donald Trump had wanted were problematic. We've been learning a lot about what's going on inside of Pirro's U.S. attorney's office as well. She was the one to make the call to drop the case. She also has gained support among the Superior Court branch, the people that are prosecuting that, that case and others like it in the local court.
But what she is facing is something very similar to what Blanche is facing writ large at the Department of Justice. A massive amount of turnover across prosecutors, a very weakened Justice Department, and also one that is bringing cases that are heavily political and just aren't standing up in court.
TAPPER: Yes, they're duds. You can bring it before a judge, but the judge will laugh you out of court. That's happened a number of times. I forget the name of the woman who was the acting U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.
[17:45:04]
POLANTZ: Lindsey Halligan.
TAPPER: There you go. Trivia question. Katelyn Polantz and Elie Honig, thanks so much.
In a court filing, Capital One is revealing that a money laundering investigation led it to shut down hundreds of bank accounts belonging to the Trump Organization. So what was behind the suspicious activity? A reporter digging into that question, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Breaking news tops our World Lead. Multiple sources telling CNN that the U.S. has exhausted nearly 80 percent of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or THAAD missile inventory compared to the pre Iran war numbers and roughly half of its Patriot interceptors. Several Gulf countries rely on U.S. air defense systems. And Gulf officials have raised concerns about the dwindling weapons supply, particularly if President Trump decides to escalate this conflict.
[17:50:13]
Joining us now is retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Kevin Donegan. Admiral, if you were a military leader deployed in the Middle East right now, how concerned would you be about this depleted stockpile?
VICE ADM. KEVIN DONEGAN, U.S. NAVY (RET.): Well, certain, some -- it's certainly something, Jake, that the military commanders are thinking about and putting into their calculus. Being in this position in a conflict like this also is not unprecedented. You probably recall in Desert Storm, in just 43 days, we shot over 33 percent of the HARM missiles in our entire inventory.
And so we've been in these positions before and it is figured in the calculus of how you go forward. But I think that the President's probably getting the best military advice here that considers not just the conflict in Iran, but more broadly, how we want to be prepared globally at the same time.
TAPPER: But correct me if I'm wrong, Desert Storm, which was shorter than the current war we're in with Iran, there was a clear definable mission, which was get Saddam Hussein and the Iraqis out of Kuwait. And I'm not really sure what the mission is here. It's reopening the Strait of Hormuz. It's making sure that Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapons program.
It's maybe decapitating the current leadership after the previous leadership has already been decapitated. I mean, like, this just seems potentially like it could end. Who knows when?
DONEGAN: Well, the ending is going to be hard to predict, but I think we're clear, you know, not just from the United States side, but globally, that we wanted to end with the Strait of Hormuz open and not in the control of the Iranians, right? We want a free flow of commerce in accordance with the United Nations Law of the Sea, right?
Unimpeded access, no tolls. That's number one. And the second thing I think we want in the world also wants is that you want to an Iran that doesn't have a nuclear capability. The question is, you know, can we get there given the situation we're in? Time is going to tell as we move through on both those issues.
TAPPER: On the Strait of Hormuz, Oman is currently working with Iran to try to establish some safe shipping routes. A senior Iranian military leader, however, says Iran will decide which ships get through on their stipulated route, adding that U.S. warships traveling elsewhere in the Strait will be not just not let through but targeted as a reminder, at least 15 ships have been attacked since June 17th. It doesn't sound as though the U.S. has the Strait of Hormuz under any sort of reliable control.
DONEGAN: Well, what we don't want it to be is in the situation you're in right now where commercial shipping isn't using it unimpeded. And I mentioned before, UNCLOS. One of the key articles of UNCLOS is that no coastal nation should impede, hinder or prohibit any nation from the flow of commerce through international waterways like this. So one of the objectives is we've got to get to that state at the end no matter how this turns out, or we won't have achieved the objectives that not only the United States want, but as I mentioned, globally, we don't want that either. As you've heard NATO say that, say the similar thing you've even heard China say this needs to return to the way it was before.
TAPPER: Retired U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Kevin Donegan, thank you so much.
DONEGAN: Thanks, Jake.
TAPPER: In our Money Lead now, for the very first time in five years, Capital One bank is revealing why they closed hundreds of Trump Organization accounts, citing that they did so, "for anti-money laundering reasons." Now President Trump is suing. He's arguing that the accounts were shut down for political reasons after the January 6th Capitol attack. But Capital One wants this case dismissed, and they say the move came after months of careful review.
So what did Capital One find? Bloomberg reporter Erik Larson has been digging into that very question since Capital One's court filing on Friday. Erik, thanks for joining us. So did Capital One explain more about why the bank closed all those accounts?
ERIK LARSON, REPORTER, BLOOMBERG: You know, they did not give any specific explanations about what caused these red flags, but they referred to transactions that were suspicious under anti-money laundering rules. And all of these big banks have anti-money laundering teams. They're looking for these types of things all the time in order to comply with federal regulations and rules. And we don't know exactly when these transactions occurred or how much they were for.
We might get more details on that later as the case progresses. But they said that they had a whole team of anti-money laundering individuals with years of experience as law enforcement, as they described it, who came to the conclusion that the accounts needed to be closed. And like you said, they did not make this public for years until just now as a result of this litigation.
[17:55:03]
TAPPER: Did they explain in any way what some of those red flags might have been or the kinds of things that usually sets off alarms?
LARSON: You know, they didn't, other than to describe a pattern of transactions or patterns of transactions is how they described it. So we don't know yet. We know that in a few weeks or so the Trump organization will respond to the motion to dismiss. They might give us more detail about what was found.
And in fact, the complaint in this case is actually heavily redacted and those redactions are going to come off in the near future, at least most of them. And they might also -- that might also give us some insight into what these transactions are.
TAPPER: Is there not a compelling reason for Capital One to reveal this information? A, they're being sued by President Trump. So in a way they, I mean the President as the one who brought the suit forward, asked for information to come forward and B, he's the President of the United States. Surely there's a public interest when an organization owned and run by the President of the United States, at least in part like that, there are red flags that go off having to do with anti-money laundering laws.
LARSON: Yes, that's true. And it is fairly explosive as you say. This is the President's company and it's a serious concern for any banker customer when something like this comes up. And I think that they did try to keep it under the radar. They said that, you know the rules, under the rules, they don't need to reveal to a customer why they did something or why they closed accounts like this, their statements or their contracts, rather allow them to close accounts for any reason.
So if this case proceeds to trial, I think that would be the way that we would get the most information about these transactions. And ultimately it might be up to a federal judge down in Florida to decide whether the transactions truly did trigger this anti-money laundering review at the bank or if it was pretextual as the Trump Organization is arguing that after January 6th, they, they looked for a way to close the accounts and this was a way that they found to do it. That is what Trump org is claiming.
TAPPER: All right, Erik Larson of Bloomberg, thanks so much for joining us.
LARSON: Thank you.
TAPPER: The big story tonight, Congressman Max Miller right here on The Lead. Moments ago he was forcefully pushing back on allegations that he physically abused his ex-wife and possibly his little girl. We're going to have more reaction and how this all impacts his reelection campaign and the balance of power and the House of Representatives, that's next.
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