Max Miller sues Stephanie Grisham for defamation after she claimed abuse

Max Miller sued Stephanie Grisham for defamation on Tuesday over her allegations that he abused her while the two were dating back when they both worked in Donald Trump’s White House. 

He is seeking punitive damages and asked a judge in Cleveland to order Grisham not to repeat the claims.

Grisham revealed in an op-ed for The Washington Post on Tuesday that her relationship with Miller had become ‘violent’ and that ‘he got physical with me.’ She claimed Donald and Melania Trump were ‘totally unfazed’ when she told them.

It was her first time speaking publicly about the allegations of abuse in her relationship, first reported by Politico. 

Miller, who is running for a House seat in his home state of Ohio, has denied the allegations.

Larry Zukerman, a Cleveland-based attorney representing Miller, filed the 13-page complaint, which says Grisham made ‘libelous and defamatory statements’ in her Washington Post op-ed, the Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported. 

Miller argued Grisham made the claims to harm him and to sell more copies of her memoir, titled ‘I’ll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw at the Trump White House.’ The book was published Tuesday and Grisham is on a publicity tour.

Grisham didn’t call out Max Miller by name in the Washington Post piece but her descriptions – a fellow White House staff who is now running for Congress with Trump’s endorsement- match him. 

‘I didn’t put his name in there on purpose because I’ve moved on,’ Grisham told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview on Tuesday. ‘If there’s anything I can take away, I’m almost stronger than ever now, and no one is ever going to abuse me again in any way, shape or form.’ 

Max Miller sued Stephanie Grisham for defamation over her allegations that he abused her while the two were dating, which he has denied

Grisham and Miller at September 2019 state dinner for the Australian prime minister at the White House back when the two were dating

Miller’s attorney said Grisham was retaliating against Miller for ‘breaking her heart,’ citing his engagement.

In June, the 32-year-old Miller got engaged to Emily Moreno, 27, the daughter of Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno. The pair rekindled their romance after dating briefly in 2015. 

‘A thorough and independent investigation will not only confirm that Ms. Grisham has ‘no proof’ to corroborate her allegations against Mr. Miller as she preemptively conceded in her article that was published in the Washington Post this morning, but will also establish that she has made false allegations against him in retaliation for him breaking her heart by ending their relationship and subsequently becoming engaged to Emily Moreno,’ Zukerman told the Plain-Dealer.

He claimed Grisham sent emails to Miller after their break up, telling him that she was still in love with him.

Miller was challenging Republican Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6th attack of the U.S. Capitol, in the GOP primary.

Trump endorsed Miller and campaigned for him earlier this year. Gonzalez announced last month that he will not seek re-election, clearing the path for Miller’s nomination.

Grisham told CNN that watching Trump endorse Miller was a ‘gut punch.’ 

in the Washiongton Post op-ed, Grisham describes how she told Melania Trump and Donald Trump separately about his behavior after the two had broken up. She noted the first couple was aware of her relationship and breakup with her fellow White House staffer.

The Trumps ‘knew when the relationship turned abusive — and they didn’t seem to care,’ she wrote. 

She claims she told the then-first lady that the ‘end of our relationship had become violent, reaching its worst point on the day I left.’

Melania Trump asked her if she went to the police, which Grisham said she didn’t because she had no proof and didn’t want to cause a scandal so close to the election.

A few weeks later, Grisham revealed, she told Trump about it during the flight back on Air Force One from the first presidential debate.

Grisham writes that she told the then-president that Miller ‘had anger issues and a violent streak. I was not some stranger making a wild accusation. I hoped that he would take me seriously, that he would do something.’

‘After I finished, the president crossed his arms and just said, ‘That surprises me. He was really broken up over things.’ After we got off the helicopter, Mrs. Trump said she was glad I told him,’ she continued.

‘We never spoke about it again.’

She said the first couple ‘seemed totally unfazed about whether there was an abuser’ working in the White House and didn’t follow up to check in on her or order an investigation. 

Grisham notes she thinks Melania Trump believed her allegations but doesn’t think Trump did. 

The allegations that Miller was violent toward Grisham were first reported by Politico. Miller’s lawyer told the outlet: ‘Mr. Miller has never, ever assaulted Ms. Grisham in any way whatsoever.’ 

Politico reported that Miller pushed Grisham ‘against a wall and slapped her in the face in his Washington apartment after she accused him of cheating on her.’ Grisham didn’t comment for the piece at that time.

The pair were believed to have been together for 18 months and even got a French bulldog named Gus, before the situation is believed to have turned sour.  

Donald Trump endorsed Max Miller’s congressional bid in Ohio and appeared at a rally with him this summer

In June, the 32-year-old Miller (right) got engaged to Emily Moreno, 27, (left) the daughter of Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno. The pair rekindled their romance after dating briefly in 2015. They are pictured at a Trump rally earlier this year 

Max Miller with President Trump on Air Force One, he worked for both of Trump’s presidential campaigns and in the White House

As news broke Grisham was writing a memoir about her time with the Trumps – and it would be critical of the former first couple – the Trumps attacked Grisham and specifically called her out on the relationship.

Donald Trump said Grisham was ‘angry and bitter about her break-up’ and Melania’s office discussed her ‘failed personal relationships’ as they railed against their former spokesperson. 

Trump endorsed Miller’s congressional bid in Ohio. He appeared alongside his former aide at a rally in that state in June, where he called him a ‘great guy.’

Miller worked for both his presidential campaigns and in the White House, where he earned the nickname ‘Music Man’ as he picked out songs to play to calm Trump down when the then-president was in a rage. 

An insider close to both Miller and Grisham told DailyMail.com last month: ‘Neither of them were angels – they had a pretty volatile relationship. But even if she laid her hands on him, he should have kept his hands in his pockets.’ 

The Politico report said that Grisham had all but moved in with Miller last year despite owning her own condo.

Miller with his new fiancee Emily Moreno earlier this year. She now is a constant fixture at his campaign events 

She is said to have confronted him in his apartment and he allegedly slapped her.

‘Miller pushed her. He slapped her. She fled. The temperatures that evening dipped into the 40s, and Grisham left with no coat, only her purse,’ the report reads.

He denied it but the unnamed sources insisted it was true.

‘It happened. It was violent and it was hard for her,’ said one of the sources – described as being someone ‘very close’ to Grisham, but not in the White House,

Another added: ‘We just talked and cried. This was not a moment of gossip. This was not a moment of slander. This was a moment of pain and fear.’

Miller is a former Marine Corps reservist, is a member of one of Cleveland’s wealthiest families and is a scion to the Forest City Enterprise real estate company. 

Grisham has been conducting a series of interviews as she promotes her new memoir ‘I’ll Take Your Questions Now,’ her tale about her work for Donald and Melania Trump, which is out on Tuesday.  

In her interviews, she has been critical of the former first family and talked about her how she got caught up in the drama of the Trump White House.   

I’ll Take Your Questions Now: What I saw at the Trump White House by Stephanie Grisham comes out on October 5 

Grisham told CNN’s New Day on Tuesday that there was a ‘culture of abuse’ in the Trump White House, admitted she lied in TV interviews and said she believes Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell would be on staff if the former president ran and won in 2024.

Grisham, who worked for Donald Trump from the early days of his 2016 campaign until she resigned in protest on January 6th, described what it was like to work for the former president. During her tenure she served as spokesperson for him and for Melania Trump.

‘It took me a really long time to realize it was a culture of abuse in there, you just want to keep Donald Trump happy. You just don’t want him to yell at you,’ she said.  ‘You learn to give him the answer that he wants. We learned to work around him.’

She described Trump yelling at her to her face when she refused to kick CNN’s Kaitlin Collins out of the White House briefing room.

‘He was yelling at me to my face in that one. Um it’s horrible when he yells at you. It’s horrible. He is very New York I guess,’ she said. ‘He’s very mean when he yells at you.’

Grisham also outlined her worries about Trump’s continued false claim that he won the 2020 election. She said she was concerned if he ran again in 2024 and won, he would seek ‘revenge’ and be out of control.

‘The fact that he is pushing this election lie is scary to me, and the fact that he’s the frontrunner right now, if he were to run for office, is scary to me,’ Grisham said. ‘And that’s because, if he gets into office, he doesn’t run for re-election again. He’ll be able to do whatever he wants, and we all know, there’s going to be retribution, there’s going revenge. I guarantee there will be very draconian policies, and they’re not going to care, because they don’t have to run for re-election again.’

Trump has not said whether or not he will make another presidential bid in 2024 although many see him as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination should he choose to get into the race. 

During his time in the White House, the president had to defend many of his decisions – such as not releasing his tax records, keeping his ties to his family business, and for trying to intefere in Justice Department investigations.  

Stephanie Grisham told CNN there was a ‘culture of abuse’ in the Trump White House

Stephanie Grisham said she believes if Trump ran and won in 2024 she envisioned Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell on the White House staff – the two lawyers led Trump’s failed legal attempts to overturn the 2020 election results

Stephanie Grisham also revealed she lied when she went on Fox News to talk about administration – above Grisham during her tenure as press secretary for President Trump

Grisham said if Trump won, his staff for that term would be even more extreme than many of the enablers who surrounded Trump during his first tenure. 

She said she envisioned Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell on staff – the two lawyers led Trump’s failed legal attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. Both Giuliani and Powell were led propogators of the ‘big lie’ – that Trump won and the election was stolen from him. Multiple recounts proved Joe Biden won in 2020.

‘If people think that the people in (the first) Trump White House were bad perhaps, I have a feeling the 1/6 crowd might be working in the White House in 2024, or the Sidney Powells, or the Rudy Giulianis,’ Grisham said. ‘I think people left and right are going to get pardoned. The amount of things, knowing what I know, that could happen, it scares me.’

Grisham’s book has sparked widespread criticism from the pro-Trump crowd and even the former president weighed in to accuse her of cashing out.

‘Stephanie didn’t have what it takes and that was obvious from the beginning,’ Trump said in a statement. He said she had become ‘very angry and bitter’ after a breakup. ‘She had big problems and we felt that she should work out those problems for herself. Now, like everyone else, she gets paid by a radical left-leaning publisher to say bad and untrue things.’ 

Grisham was a controversial figure during her time in the Trump White House, particularly for never holding a press briefing when she served in the role of press secretary. 

But she, like many officials in the Trump administatration, often went on Fox News to spread their message. 

‘That’s just where we went to get what we wanted out,’ she said. ‘They, you know, by and large didn’t get tough with us, they just took what we were saying and disseminated it.’ 

Asked if she was always truthful during her interviews on Fox News, she admitted: ‘I probably wasn’t.’

Grisham, 45, then served as press secretary to Trump from July 2019 to April 2020. She then returned to the East Wing as Melania’s chief of staff from April 2020 until January 2021.

Many Trump loyalists have turned on her, including Melania Trump, whose office accused her of cashing in.

And Grisham’s former colleague Alyssa Farah, who served as White House Communications Director for Trump, said during an interview with The View on Monday: ‘First and foremost, I don’t believe in profiting off of public service. I had a chance to write my White House tell-all and declined. The American people, the taxpayers, paid my salary. 

‘I’m not going to go write a book and cash in.’

She went on to declare that Grisham was ‘largely MIA on the job’, and said that the reason she never held a live-televised press briefing was down to her own reluctance to do so, not Trump as Grisham claimed.

‘When I worked for him, it was, ”Go get out on TV, Alyssa. Go give a briefing.” He wanted people out,’ Farah said.

‘It seemed like she was largely MIA on the job.’

DailyMail.com obtained a live photo of Stephanie Grisham lying on the floor of the White House during the 2020 presidential election. A source who was at the election party tells DailyMail.com that the picture was taken to show how embarrassing her antics were