Rep. Mike Lawler (R-New York) at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 18, 2024
U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) did not take kindly to badgering from CNN anchor Dana Bash over $10,000 he received from Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), currently facing allegations of injuring his ex-wife Emily Moreno and their two-year-old daughter through domestic violence.
Rather than commit to returning the money, Lawler pivoted to criticizing the Democrat in the race against him, whom he accused of attending a fundraiser hosted by a former New York governor Elliot Spitzer, who resigned after a prostitution scandal.
“I'm asking you specifically about Max Miller,” said Bash, forging on through Lawler’s non-answers. “So, it sounds like you said you talked to him a lot privately. It sounds like you're saying that you're not returning the donations because—”
“Right. I’m not going to get into that,” Lawler interrupted.
“Because you believe him,” Bash pushed back.
Lawler paused for a minute, seemingly staggered.
“Look, this is a private family matter that, unfortunately, has spilled out into the public,” said eventually said. “It should be adjudicated in family court. Max has been accused. Max has also made accusations against his ex-wife. It is tragic. And obviously, I don't condone any level of abuse. But ultimately, there's been nothing that has been corroborated here.”
“Why not just give it back? It's only $10,000,” Bash later pressed.
“Because this is this is the typical Washington — this is the typical Washington media game where it's always an allegation comes up, you must return the money,” said Lawler, his voice rising. “It's the typical game. Everybody plays.”
CNN senior reporter Annie Grayer later pointed out to anchor Pamela Brown that this issue will haunt all Republicans who received donations from Miller.
“By our count, it's as many as 25 incumbents, Republicans running for reelection, many of whom are in tough reelection battles. And they are going to have to decide if they keep this this money,” said Grayer, who then played footage of U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.) telling reporters that he also was not returning Miller’s money right now.
“I respect the Ethics Committee and that process, and I'm going to see what their findings reveal,” said Barrett.
After the video, former Trump administration official Matt Mowers told Brown that “Democrats should be careful” [of] all the glass houses around them,” citing the fundraiser Lawler also deflected to, the one hosted by Spitzer.
But former GOP lawmaker and Trump critic Adam Kinzinger had much less sympathy.
“I think if you break your daughter's collarbone or are credibly accused of it … and basically go out there and give interviews where it just continues to dig a deeper hole—I mean, part of Max Miller's problem is there's no humility about any of this,” said Kinzinger. “I think Democrats seem to hold themselves to a different standard, whether that's internal pressure or not. Graham Platner obviously was forced to resign. Republicans were quick to call that out. The party turned against him. You saw that with, Eric Swalwell, of California. Et cetera. Look, I ultimately think Republicans would have been far smarter to throw miller under the bus on this one. But they're going to have to live with it.”
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