Firebrand freshman Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) is facing an ethics complaint over a possible congressional rules violation for using House floor footage in a campaign ad hitting her primary opponent and GOP colleague Rep. Rodney Davis.
In a letter sent to House Ethics Committee leadership, Jerrold Stocks, a lawyer from Decatur, Illinois, pointed to footage depicting Davis shaking former President Barack Obama’s hand on the floor at a State of the Union address in an ad accusing him of being a “RINO,” or a “Republican in name only,” for voicing support for red flag laws. 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.”
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Congressional rules prohibit using House floor footage for political purposes. The rules state that “broadcast coverage and recordings of House floor proceedings” and House committee proceedings may not be used “as partisan political campaign material to promote or oppose the candidacy of any person for public office.”
Isaiah Wartman, Miller’s campaign spokesman, issued a statement that did not address the ethics violation directly but accused Davis of being a lifelong RINO.
“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,” Wartman said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
The primary race between Miller and Davis quickly became heated after the lawmakers’ districts were merged under Illinois’s new congressional maps and the state lost a seat following the census, which showed a decline in population.
Miller received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump despite House Republican leadership urging him to stay out of the race, with Trump considering campaigning on her behalf, one source familiar said.
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Miller has faced a string of controversies since first taking office, including having to issue an apology after quoting Adolf Hitler in a speech and coming under fire for allowing a convicted pedophile to assist in her campaign.
Davis, a five-term congressman who serves as the top Republican on the House Administration Committee, has voiced support for Trump but has seen pushback from some in the MAGA wing of the party over his vote to create a 9/11-style independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
