Former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham has filed a temporary restraining order against Rep. Max Miller of Ohio, escalating a legal fight rooted in domestic abuse allegations that now has fellow Republicans calling for Miller's resignation.
Grisham's attorney, Mark S. Zaid, announced the filing Monday on the social platform X, stating that the temporary restraining order was filed in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the Republican congressman. The Hill reported that the legal action stems from Grisham's claim that Miller violated a 2023 settlement agreement the two had signed, which included a nondisclosure agreement barring both parties from publicly disparaging one another.
The breach, according to Grisham's legal team, came after Miller posted on X that her domestic violence allegations against him were fabricated. The Washington Examiner reported that Miller cited a secretly recorded audio conversation with his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, to support his claim that Grisham's allegations were invented.
Grisham's attorneys laid out their argument in the Monday filing in blunt terms:
"Once Miller chose to publicly accuse Plaintiff of fabricating her allegations and publicly reinsert her into an ongoing media controversy, the contractual benefit of peace and finality were eroded."
The filing went further, arguing that Miller's conduct was not a one-time slip:
"These are not isolated breaches. Miller's offending publications remain publicly accessible, continue to be disseminated, and continue to inflict ongoing harm upon Grisham's professional reputation, credibility, and standing."
The legal dispute between Grisham and Miller traces back to 2021, when Grisham, who served as White House communications director during President Trump's first term, published an op-ed in the Washington Post describing an abusive relationship with an unnamed man. Miller filed a defamation suit against her shortly after. That case was eventually dropped when both sides signed the NDA.
But the truce did not hold. In a June 2026 interview with Spectrum News, Miller made comments referencing the timing of the abuse allegations, saying it "should be noted" that an allegation against him "came out on the same day as somebody's book launch and the other part." Grisham's new lawsuit followed those remarks.
Grisham's filing did not arrive in isolation. Days earlier, Miller's ex-wife, Emily Moreno, filed her own restraining order against the congressman. Moreno has accused Miller of hurling scalding hot water at her, holding a gun to her head, and breaking their two-year-old daughter's collarbone. The New York Post reported that court documents also allege Miller shoved Moreno and slammed her against a wall.
Moreno's filing also alleged that Miller physically grabbed and goaded her attorney into a confrontation during a February 1 court hearing. In court documents, Moreno stated: "Unless restrained, [Miller] will continue to harass, threaten and communicate with my counsel directly."
We previously reported on Emily Moreno's restraining order filing, which detailed the alleged confrontation with her lawyer at the custody hearing.
Miller has denied every allegation. In his June interview with Spectrum News, he pointed to his ex-wife as a character witness: "My ex-wife was with me every single day during that time of my life in that election, and she, in her own words, will tell you that I never did any of those things." That defense has aged poorly, given that Moreno is now the one making some of the most serious accusations against him.
The political fallout has been swift and bipartisan in a way that rarely happens within a party. Emily Moreno's father, Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio, publicly called for Miller to resign. His statement left no room for ambiguity:
"He is a danger to my daughter, and I hold my breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter. If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them."
Sen. Moreno is not alone. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida told MeidasTouch reporter Pablo Manríquez in a brief interview: "First off, he shouldn't be in office, right." Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas echoed the call, saying that based on what he knows, Miller should resign. Marshall added that he knows the Moreno family and "can't imagine they would go through this process if there wasn't something there."
That Sen. Moreno's public denunciation of Miller came from a fellow Republican, and a member of his own former family, underscores how isolated the Ohio congressman has become within the party.
President Trump, for his part, declined to weigh in directly on the substance of the allegations. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said: "I'm going to let the families figure that out. It's accusations and I'm going to let them figure that out." The New York Post reported that Trump also described Miller as "a good person" while calling the situation "a very sad thing."
On Tuesday, Miller took the unusual step of announcing he would ask for an ethics investigation into his own conduct. He posted on X: "In light of all the renewed interest in my family affairs I am going to file my own paperwork for an ethic investigation to clear my name from the horrific attacks on myself and my family."
He followed up: "The accusations continue to change, but my facts stay the same. I am looking forward to my colleagues reading everything for themselves."
Just The News reported that the House Ethics Committee has already opened a probe into the domestic violence allegations against Miller, a step that puts the congressman under formal institutional scrutiny on top of his mounting legal problems.
Miller has vowed to continue his reelection campaign. But Republicans are quietly weighing whether there is still time to replace him on the ballot, with a filing deadline approaching. Trump won Miller's district by 11 points in 2024, and Democrats are eyeing the seat as a potential upset opportunity, a scenario that would have been unthinkable before the abuse allegations surfaced.
The GOP has not been shy about demanding accountability from its own members when the facts warrant it. Rep. Chuck Edwards recently abandoned his reelection bid after an ethics panel found a pattern of misconduct, and Republicans have shown a willingness to act where Democrats have often stalled.
The core facts are hard to dismiss. Two separate women, a former girlfriend who served alongside Miller in the Trump White House and an ex-wife raising his child, have now filed restraining orders against the same man within days of each other. Both allege patterns of abusive or threatening behavior. Both have put their names on legal filings.
Miller's defense rests on blanket denials and a request that colleagues review the evidence themselves. His decision to seek an ethics investigation into his own conduct is either a sign of confidence or a gamble that the committee will move slowly enough to buy him time.
Congressional scandals involving personal misconduct cut across party lines. Democrats have faced their own reckoning over similar allegations, and leadership on both sides has struggled with the question of when private behavior disqualifies someone from public office.
But the Republican senators calling for Miller's resignation are not engaging in hand-wringing. They are stating a straightforward position: the allegations are serious, the accusers are credible, and the congressman should step aside. Whether Miller listens, or whether the party finds a mechanism to force the question, will determine whether an 11-point Trump district stays in Republican hands or becomes a casualty of one man's refusal to leave the stage.
When members of your own party tell you to go, and two women go to court to keep you away, the honorable move is not to request a committee review. It is to resign.
