House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested that harassment, assault, and stolen valor allegations against Republican Representative Cory Mills are not “serious” matters of discussion at a Wednesday press conference.
A Florida judge on Tuesday issued a restraining order against Mills, after his ex-girlfriend alleged that he had threatened to blackmail her using sexually explicit images of her and to commit violence against her future romantic partners.
Johnson bristled at reporters after being asked twice about the matter.
Responding to a question from NBC News’s Melanie Zanona, Johnson initially claimed to have “not heard or looked into the details of that.”
NOTUS’s Reese Gorman followed up, noting additional scandals—two out of a bevy of others—that Mills has faced, i.e., a different woman once accused him of assaulting her at his apartment, which she since recanted, and Mills, an Army veteran, has also been accused of stolen valor, including by military veterans who served alongside him.
“Are you concerned about these allegations?” Gorman asked. Johnson told him to ask Mills, whom he called “a faithful colleague,” before pleading ignorance of the allegations.
“Let’s talk about things that are really serious,” said the speaker, growing cross, before taking another question.
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