Return to Transcripts main page

Inside Politics

Rep. Max Miller Requests Ethics Committee Probe Of Himself; Sources: Allies Want Trump To Ask Miller To Drop Out Of Race; Michigan Senate Battle Tests Democratic Party's Direction; AIPAC Spends Record Amount In High-Stakes Senate Primary; Trump A.G. Nominee Passes Key Hurdle, Advances Toward Confirmation. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired August 04, 2026 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:00:00]

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS: Welcome to Inside Politics. I'm Manu Raju in for Dana Bash. And we're following breaking news. Embattled Republican Congressman Max Miller is calling for an ethics investigation into himself. He says he wants to clear himself from the disturbing allegations of domestic abuse from his ex-wife Emily Moreno, the daughter of the senior senator from Ohio, Bernie Moreno.

Let's go straight to CNN's Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill. Lauren, this is obviously a very unusual, disturbing, and developing situation. What's the latest?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, this is virtually unheard of on Capitol Hill. You have here an embattled Republican congressman, Representative Max Miller, calling for his own ethics investigation, writing in a tweet, quote. In light of all the renewed interest in my family affairs. I am going to file my own paperwork for an ethics investigation into myself to clear my name from these horrific attacks on myself and my family. I have absolutely nothing to hide.

We will be providing the committee all necessary documents needed for a detailed examination. The accusations continue to change, but my facts stay the same. I am looking forward to my colleagues reading everything for themselves. And I would just note, Manu, I have reached out to the House Ethics Committee because this is relatively unprecedented to ask them if they are going to take up the congressman's request. I have not heard back. Of course, Max Miller just tweeting this moments ago. Manu?

RAJU: And perhaps trying to get ahead of what's almost certainly going to happen, the Ethics Committee probe. One reason why to do it right now. And Lauren, Miller's ex father-in-law, Republican Senator Bernie Moreno, just spoke to reporters about an hour ago. He has not said a whole lot other than that post that he just put out this weekend. Now speaking on camera about his -- this fight between his daughter and Max Miller. What did the senator say?

FOX: Yeah. Senator Moreno describing an extremely painful family situation to reporters, including our own colleague Ellis Kim, who was in the holes waiting for Moreno, and essentially, he argued that this has been the seventh level of hell. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE MORENO (R-OH): This is truly the seventh level of hell. This has been a horrific experience for my entire family. My daughter lives in constant fear of this man, not like something that's existential, but deeply in her heart, she fears what this guy is capable of. You can't even -- you can't fathom what that makes me feel like, when the dad's number one job is to protect your kids. This has been brutal beyond comprehension, and if there's any minimum standard for being an elected official, as I said, he fails to meet that minimum basic standard. I don't care about the politics at all. Don't think about it. Doesn't enter my consciousness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And Moreno's daughter, Emily Moreno, has accused her ex-husband Max Miller, of course, of domestic abuse. He has denied all of those allegations Congressman Max Miller has. And you saw there, he is asking now for an ethics investigation, which he claims will clear his name, Manu.

RAJU: All right, Lauren Fox with the latest from Capitol Hill. Thank you so much. And today, I asked Congressman Max Miller if he is indeed ending his reelection campaign. His answer to me means, quote, nothing changed. Miller also told me that President Trump called him around 9 am yesterday, but quote, never asked him to drop out.

My panel is here to discuss, including Alayna Treene, who's covering this from the White House's end. The president is getting a lot of pressure from Republicans who are very, very nervous. This is already a very difficult election year environment. This is a district. Yes, it's a Republican district. Trump carried it by 11 points. Max Miller, he won 51 percent of the vote in 2024. He won by a comfortable margin, but there was a Democrat and Independent on that ballot then split the vote. This is a different environment. These are very, very disturbing allegations. Why won't Trump go as far as a lot of Republicans wanted to do, which is to say, drop out?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He could still. You know, I wouldn't leave. I wouldn't say that's a done decision. But I actually -- I met with someone at the White House yesterday, a senior White House official, and we walked through this entire conversation, and they essentially said, the president -- and you could kind of hear this yesterday when he was addressing reporters in the Oval Office. He doesn't want to get in the middle of it.

[12:05:00]

One thing that they said is he feels like, of course, he's already endorsed Miller, so this puts him in a weird situation with him. He's endorsed him in the past. He has a good relationship with Bernie Moreno, and he wants them to -- that he thinks, it's essentially a family dispute and wants it to be settled as a family dispute. And he also said, I'd remind you of the comments he made on Air Force One on Sunday when he said, they're still just accusations. And that's something I know people took issue with this idea of potentially downplaying the allegations from Moreno's daughter Emily. And so, we'll see.

I think this could become an untenable situation, particularly the way we're seeing this all play out so publicly, and these allegations are so sensitive and difficult. And we know Trump is getting advice. You need to get involved, and he did call Miller in the end to say, hey, this is looking bad, but it may take a couple days, or we'll see what happens for him to actually go as far to say Trump out.

RAJU: Yeah. I mean, and obviously, Miller is a longtime loyal Trump ally. He worked for Trump at one point. Alex, you also covered the White House. This is what Miller said to Trump. Trump said, recalling his conversation. Miller said, recalling his conversation with Trump yesterday. Miller said this to the Wall Street Journal today. He said he kept on reiterating, it's going to be tough and it's going to be a really hard one for you. So not going as far, but saying, it's going to be hard.

ALEX GANGITANO, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, POLITICO: That's right. And again, yesterday in the Oval Office, the president said these are just accusations and I know Miller well. He spoke more about his relationship with Miller and not bringing the Bernie Moreno of it all into this and his relationship with the senator. So, I think the point about this being a family matter, and he's trying to not get in the middle of this. He's looking at it.

This was before a lot of Republican senators last night were saying we're standing with Bernie Moreno. The president is looking at this as is this a Republican who should drop it or not, and not the whole scope of -- there's also a Republican senator who I am friendly with at the other end of this. So, I think things might change today, given the increased heat on Miller.

RAJU: And look, this now other Republicans are going to start to have to answer questions about this. This is something that Republicans don't want to answer questions about, including Senator Jon Husted, who's running for his seat. He was appointed to J.D. Vance's seat. He's up in a difficult race in Ohio. He is the junior senator. Bernie Moreno is the senior senator. We tried to ask him last night about this. He didn't answer questions about the Max Miller situation last night. This morning he was on Newsmax and this is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON HUSTED (R-OH): I'm very saddened by the whole situation for everyone. I know all the families involved and let's focus on letting them sort through this at a family level. The political ramifications, I think, will work themselves out. But I just -- personally I'm sad about the situation, and I hope that the president's intervention can help move things along.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Trying to, you know, walk a tightrope of not going as far as saying resign. AARON BLAKE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: I mean, this is a very unique situation in that you have both sides of this in the Ohio delegation to Congress. You have the senator taking one side. You have a congressman. A lot of these members have relationships with both of these people, and they don't want to jump too fast in one direction or another.

I think, generally speaking, when you have a situation like this, you hope it resolves itself without having to get involved. That certainly seems to be where President Trump is on this right now. He'd rather not have to play the police in this battle between the two sides and hope it gets resolved. But that's not always going to work, and there is a very hard timeline by which Republicans, if they are going to get Max Miller out of this race, need to do so in the coming days here. So, there could be some very difficult decisions in the very near future.

RAJU: Can Democrats pick up this seat?

DAVID WEIGEL, POLITICAL REPORTER, SEMAFOR: Yes, they have a good candidate, Brian Poindexter, that one they're very -- they were satisfied with before any of this happened. They like the top of the ticket. They also have Republicans. You saw Husted, but Vivek Ramaswamy is running for governor, running behind the baseline for Republicans, and also trying to make his Democratic opponent Amy Acton's character an issue in the race. And going after her for admitting struggles she had in her past, hard for him to say that that's disqualifying for her to be governor. This isn't disqualifying for Max Miller.

So, it's something Democrats in Maine had their version of this for a very long time. Just in Ohio, every day that Republicans are spending talking about this is a day they cannot message, which was already again running 10 points behind. I take it tip -- running 10 points behind what Trump did two years ago in Ohio.

RAJU: Yeah, we'll say, wow, just a developing story. We'll see, and we expect to hear more later today from Max Miller as well. And still ahead, it's finally here, primary day in Michigan. One of Democrats' most contentious races. What message will voters send to the nation, and which messenger will they choose? And for a decade now, Jeanine Pirro has been one of President Trump's biggest cheerleaders, but will one decision that he doesn't like, cost her, her job?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJU: Today in Michigan, Democratic voters are choosing between two very different visions for their party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HALEY STEVENS (D-MI): here is a reason why Republicans are already spending thousands and thousands of dollars meddling in this primary, trying to maybe get their preferred candidate. Look, when it comes to Michigan, I run through anyone and anything to stand up for us.

[12:15:00]

ABDUL EL-SAYED, (D) MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: You can't buy inspiration. You can't buy people deciding to be a part of something. You can't buy hope. You can't buy belief. And so, what we've got is worth way more than their 80 million.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: The choice they make for their Senate candidate today will send a national message about the direction of the party and possibly determine the balance of power in the Senate come November. It's the most closely watched and most expensive Democratic primary of the year. CNN's Arlette Saenz is in Detroit talking to voters. So, Arlette, what are they telling you?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Manu, Democratic voters will soon weigh in and perhaps offer some insight into the direction they want to see the Democratic Party take, not just here in the state of Michigan, but potentially beyond that as well. There is the progressive candidate El-Sayed, and then the more moderate candidate Haley Stevens, facing off in this very contentious primary. And we've spoken to a mix of voters today.

Many El-Sayed supporters have appeared here at this Detroit polling location where we're located. They've talked about their frustrations about the outside money that has poured into this race more than 60 million dollars on behalf of Haley Stevens. While we've also spoken to some Haley Stevens' supporters who have cited her past work relating to the auto industry during the Obama administration. And talking about some of the concerns about whether El-Sayed would be able to win in November in a broader general election environment. But take a listen to a few of the voters we spoke with earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM STEPHENS, MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC VOTER: In the Senate race, Haley Stevens.

SAENZ: And why is that?

STEPHENS: I used to be an auto worker for five years. That's how I got through college. So, it's important that that's not forgotten. There's been concern that if her opponent wins, he can't win in the election. So that was concern too.

MARGARET DILLARD, MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC VOTER: I don't want somebody in somebody else's pocket that they have to agree to what they want to, you know, too many people like that in politics -- in politics.

SHEMAJ SHELTON, MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC VOTER: Overall change in people who had an independent view and thought process of what's right for the voters, not what's right for corporate PACs or what's right for any affiliations that support them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now that final voter there actually typically has voted Democratic, but he told me that back in 2024 he did vote for President Donald Trump. He had thought that Trump would bring some change to the country. He said, ultimately, he was disappointed, and now he is supporting El-Sayed in this race. Those are the types of voters that El-Sayed, if he wins this Democratic primary, will have to try to win over heading into that general election, but this is really a major test for the progressive movement.

As they've seen a lot of success in very blue areas like New York City and the Denver area, and now they are trying to replicate those wins here in a very purple swing state, a presidential battleground which has flipped between Democrats and Republicans in recent elections. And a little bit later today, we will learn which route Democratic voters will decide to take in this consequential Senate race that could very well determine control of the U.S. Senate next year, Manu.

RAJU: All right, Arlette Saenz in Detroit, and with the Trump El-Sayed voter, very interesting. Thanks for that report. We're back here in the room. David Weigel, you have been on the ground in Michigan. I have as well. This is just what Michigan voters have been seeing on their TV screens at home. Just so much outside money. I mean, a staggering amount of outside money, 64 million on behalf of Haley Stevens, 7 million on behalf of El-Sayed. This obviously -- that's what we hear El-Sayed railing about so much in this campaign. But is that amount of paid media going to be enough to push Haley Stevens over the finish line tonight?

WEIGEL: It hasn't shown up in the polling, and if it isn't, that's as telling as anything else happening. Because four years ago, Haley Stevens won a member-on-member primary against Andy Levin, scion of a political family, Jewish president of a synagogue. With some of the same issues, some of the same fight over Israel, but Israel wasn't top of mind for Democratic voters yet, and AIPAC wasn't toxic for Democratic voters yet.

And this campaign, the issues changed, the Democratic Party changed. I also think the media itself changed for El-Sayed in important ways because Andy Levin was not getting two-hour Twitch streams and money bombs and getting outside the mainstream media's focus or getting past the mail and TV. It was hard for him to break through. El-Sayed had not had trouble breaking through. He has used this new population of influencers and progressive media to make those ads a problem for her.

As we were just saying, that people don't see them and say, I'm convinced by this mailer. They say, who's paying for this? That took a lot of work and a lot of change that El-Sayed did some of but has just been happening like tectonic plate shifting around Haley Stevens.

RAJU: And you mentioned the AIPAC spending. They've spent more in the Michigan Senate primary than any other race. The AIPAC linked group spending $32 million in the Michigan 2026 primary. You look at some of the other states in districts that they have spent on, not even close. [12:20:00]

The other one is interesting. It went in the Missouri race in 2024 to oust, then Congresswoman Cori Bush, who's actually on the ballot tonight for a rematch against Congressman Wesley Bell. So that'll be an interesting another story line tonight. But AIPAC obviously views this as essential to defeat Abdul El-Sayed tonight, and Abdul El-Sayed thinks that's going to be cause a backlash among progressive voters.

BLAKE: Yeah. I mean, I think tonight's going to be a big night for AIPAC. It's going to say a lot about whether that money that's flooded into this campaign was actually worth it, or whether it might have actually worked against Haley Stevens. I think if you look at this race tomorrow, if in fact Haley Stevens does lose this race, there might be more talk in the Democratic Party, a little bit more earnestly at least about whether they need to distance themselves from AIPAC and in interests like that because right now it doesn't seem to have worked. There's a lot of evidence right now that this is actually working against candidates in a lot of these very important races, not necessarily in swing states, but this would be a swing state where this would matter too.

RAJU: And the divide is so stark here. Among the Democrats, you look at the endorsements. I mean, there's a lot of possible 2028 candidates weighing on each side here between Stevens and El-Sayed. You'd see the motor leadership aligned members allying themselves with Stevens, whether it's the Governor Gretchen Whitmer or the former -- the soon to be former Senator Gary Peters, whose seat is vacating, that's causing this open seat race. And then on the El-Sayed side, of course, Bernie Sanders, AOC, Elizabeth Warren, and the like.

TREENE: Yeah. I think that's one of the things I think is going to be most interesting is what this race tells you about this trend we're really seeing play out among many blue states across the country right now, whether or not the grassroots behind -- the movement behind progressives will be enough, particularly in a battleground state. I think that's what's so interesting about tonight's race is that this is Michigan, a state Trump won in 2024.

But whether or not, they'll have enough to go up against the establishment. I think it's going to be a big night for Chuck Schumer, especially. We saw him already kind of choose badly in his involvement in the main primary.

RAJU: He clearly wants Haley Stevens to win this race.

TREENE: Exactly. He's been behind Haley Stevens, as so as Gretchen Whitmer, you know, the former governor. So, a lot of things playing out here.

RAJU: How much do we expect to see Trump on the trail in Michigan, specifically ahead of November, because you know, Rogers tried to ride Trump's coattails last time he came up just short. The dynamic is much different given Trump's numbers right now.

GANGITANO: That's right. I think because it is a state that he won, and I think it really depends on who the Democrat candidate is. I think if it's El-Sayed, that's what Trump wants. He wants to be able to go on the trail and talk about how the Democratic Party is turning into socialism and Republicans are the answer to that. Meanwhile, if it's Haley Stevens, I think it will just be a different kind of rhetoric from the president. It's a matter of him versus Chuck Schumer, him versus the Democratic establishment.

But I think they'll put him out there. I think they'll put some cabinet officials, but he also has a lot of -- he has to spend a lot of time in other places too. And you know, does he have to be down in Texas more than Michigan to help Mike Rogers? I think, you know, his time -- they're going to have to figure out the next couple months where exactly his time has best been.

TREENE: He's also not really been campaigning at all. I mean, he -- I should say he is traveling to Vegas tomorrow, so may a couple for me. But he was supposed to be out almost every week. We have not seen that.

RAJU: I think there's a reason for that.

TREENE: Yeah.

RAJU: But I'll say we saw the poll numbers that the candidates have. And as we go to break, just something for viewers to watch for tonight. Two other Michigan House primaries critical. One is involving the 13th congressional district in Michigan. That's a more Democratic blues district. Kamala Harris won that very easily, but street done under the incumbent facing against the state Rep. Donavan McKinney, who's got the endorsement of the DSA folks.

And then the Michigan seventh congressional district, that is a critical district. Democrats absolutely must pick up that seat. Tom Barrett, it's a district that Trump narrowly carried in 2024. Bridget Brink, William Lawrence, and Matt Maasdam running there. William Lawrence is something that Bernie Sanders supports, but the Congressional Black Caucus opposes.

All right, coming up next. Todd Blanche just passed a key hurdle to becoming the next attorney general. But are there other Republican holdouts awaiting him in the full Senate?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RAJU: Todd Blanche is one step closer to becoming attorney general for President Trump. The Senate Judiciary Committee this morning voted to advance Blanche's nomination after Republican Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis cut a deal with the Justice Department and voted yes. That vote strictly along party lines.

Up next, the full Senate. My panel is back. So, of course, this deal was to get in writing that this so-called anti-weaponization fund, $1.8 billion, is dead. And to limit the scope of this tax immunity deal that President Trump got to prevent future tax returns from being audited by the IRS for Trump and his family. Did Trump -- did Tillis and Cornyn really get what they wanted here because Trump obviously still wants the weaponization fund. We heard him talk about it yesterday.

BLAKE: I mean, on the anti-weaponization fund, I think it's pretty clear that this is not fully 100 percent dead.