We call it "giving the finger..."

Ohio stations ignore Max Miller’s legal threat, run Democratic challenger’s ad

A lawyer for the Republican incumbent called the ad from Brian Poindexter “defamatory.”

Riley Rogerson

Ohio television stations are so far choosing to ignore a legal threat from GOP Rep. Max Miller and broadcast an ad from his Democratic challenger centered on the allegations of domestic abuse Miller faces from his ex-wife.

A lawyer for Miller demanded that Cleveland-area television station WKYC not publish “false, malicious, and defamatory statements” in a Thursday cease-and-desist letter first reported by POLITICO.

WKYC ran the ad Tuesday morning, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact, as did three other Cleveland stations, WEWS, WJW and WOIO.

The 30-second ad from the Poindexter campaign and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee depicts a local sheriff listing the accusations levied against Miller levied by Emily Moreno, his ex-wife and the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio). Miller has repeatedly denied the abuse allegations.

“The ad mentioned is filled with lies,” Miller spokesperson Abigail Angelos said in a statement. “Each of the statements in the advertisement are entirely unsubstantiated and contradicted by evidence.”

Representatives for the four TV stations did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Poindexter responded to the legal threat by tearing up the cease-and-desist letter in a campaign video.

WEWS said in a Monday article that the station received a cease-and-desist letter.

“The WEWS-TV legal team evaluated the ad as we always do,” the article said. “Federal Communications Commission rules prohibit stations from censoring ads purchased by candidates like Poindexter. Therefore, the ad will air.”

DCCC spokesperson Riya Vashi said Miller had “resorted to the same playbook he’s used his whole life — deploying his money and fancy lawyers to make his problems go away.”

Before the ad, Poindexter had focused his campaign on his working-class background and cost-of-living issues. Now the campaign has gotten intensely personal: The Democrat is on air publicizing Miller’s family dispute, while Miller’s campaign is lobbing accusations about Poindexter’s past run-ins with law enforcement in an ad paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee.

NRCC spokesperson Zach Bannon said in a statement that Poindexter is “completely out of touch with Northeast Ohio” and is a “life-long criminal” who is “fully embracing the radical far-left socialist agenda.”