Stephanie Grisham files restraining order against Ohio Rep. Max Miller

Stephanie Grisham has filed a restraining-order request against Rep. Max Miller, widening a legal fight that already includes abuse allegations, counterclaims and a growing political cost for the Ohio Republican. Miller has denied the allegations.

Grisham, who served as White House press secretary in Donald Trump’s first term, dated Miller during that period. A 2019 White House state dinner photo showed the two together, and Grisham previously alleged that Miller was physically abusive during their relationship in 2020.

The new filing lands on top of a separate defamation-related lawsuit Grisham brought in July 2026 in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. That suit says Miller violated a non-disparagement agreement by pulling Grisham into disputes involving himself and his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, who has also accused him of abuse. The court fight has pulled an intimate family dispute into public view in both Ohio and Washington, with each side now pressing claims in multiple forums.

Miller has responded with his own litigation, filing defamation suits against Moreno, Grisham and Moreno’s attorney. The back-and-forth has turned into a broad legal standoff that now includes a restraining-order filing, a contract dispute and competing accusations over who caused the public rupture.

The political damage is beginning to matter beyond the courthouse. Coverage of Miller’s reelection bid has cited the abuse claims as a vulnerability, and Democrats see an opening to make his district more competitive. For a two-term House Republican, the combination of private allegations, courtroom filings and campaign-season scrutiny has turned into a test of how much political fallout a member can absorb before it starts to reshape the race around him.