Freshman Congresswoman Mary Miller has been hit with an ethics complaint just weeks before the state’s primary.
According to the Washington Examiner, Decatur lawyer Jerrold Stocks sent a letter to House Ethics Committee leadership saying that Miller used House floor footage and House resources to hit her primary opponent Congressman Rodney Davis accusing him of being Republican in name only. Stocks wrote that in addition to being a possible ethics breach, she used House resources to “cartoonishly” try “to distort Congressman Davis’ record.”
“Representative Miller’s misuse of footage from the House floor is no mere innocuous slip. Her actions might be understandable if she were, for example, using footage of herself in some positive manner. However, Representative Miller has not only flouted House Rules, she has done so to disingenuously attack a fellow Member,” the letter obtained by the Washington Examiner reads. “Her debasement of the House chamber and abuse of the public trust should not be tolerated,” it continues. “I respectfully request that the Committee on Ethics immediately open an investigation into Representative Miller’s clear violation of House Rules.”
Stocks is a long-time supporter of Davis. In 2016, Stocks along with members of Davis’ staff filed objections to Dr. David Gill’s petitions to be an independent candidate to run against Davis and Democrat Mark Wicklund in the 13th Congressional District. The U.S. Court of Appeals eventually kept Gill off the ballot for not meeting the state’s petition signature threshold.
Miller’s commercial footage in question depicts Davis shaking the hand of former President Barrack Obama on the floor at a State of the Union address and then used House voting records describing Davis of being a RINO and supporting “red flag” gun laws.
Congressional rules prohibit using House floor footage for political purposes. Punishment for a founded ethics complaint may include a fine or censure by the House of Representatives.
Isaiah Wartman, Miller’s campaign spokesman, issued a statement to the Washington Examiner that did not address the ethics violation directly but instead touted her connections to former President Donald Trump and the NRA: “Downstate Illinois is uniting behind Trump-endorsed Mary Miller because she is the America First candidate who will always support the Second Amendment, and Mary Miller is the candidate with the A rating from the NRA and Gun Owners of America.”
Miller’s campaign has refused to acknowledge or even turn down at least 2 requests from WLDS News for an interview.
Davis campaign spokesperson Aaron DeGroot lambasted Miller’s campaign in a press release Monday morning and has accused the Congresswoman of hiding from local media: “It’s no surprise that Mary Miller’s false ads against Rodney Davis have landed her an ethics investigation. Whether it’s having a convicted child sex predator serving as her campaign driver, being repeatedly fined for not paying taxes, or hiding from the local media in her basement just like Joe Biden, Miller’s personal and political habits are not on the up and up. Miller should take down her false ad and come clean to voters about her shady record.”
Miller and Davis are locked in a heated battle for the Republican nomination for the newly drawn 15th Congressional District. The Illinois Primary Election Day is Tuesday, June 28th.