Emily J. Miller

Emily Miller is an American political communications strategist,[3][4] journalist and author. In August 2020, she was the Assistant Commissioner for Media Affairs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration until she was dismissed from her position after only 11 days.[5][6]

Emily J. Miller
Emily Miller in February 2018
Born1970/1971 (age 49–50)[1]
NationalityAmerican
Alma materGeorgetown University[2]
OccupationAuthor, political communications strategist; former journalist, government spokesperson
Notable work
Emily Gets Her Gun: But Obama Wants to Take Yours

She previously worked as the senior political correspondent at One America News Network, and before that as chief investigative reporter for WTTG, the local Fox affiliate in Washington, D.C., and was senior editor of the Washington Times opinion pages. She also worked as deputy press secretary for Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, and as communications director for House Majority Whip Tom DeLay. In 2012, she was awarded the Clark Mollenhoff Award for Investigative Reporting from the Institute on Political Journalism for her column series "Emily Gets Her Gun".

Work

Miller served as the deputy press secretary at the U.S. Department of State for Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.[7] Before this, Miller worked as communications director for House Majority Whip Tom DeLay.

Miller worked at ABC News as an associate producer for the television shows This Week and Good Morning America. She then went on to become a senior editor for Human Events and a gossip columnist for Politics Daily.[8][1] After this, she worked at The Washington Times as a columnist and senior editor of their opinion pages.[9]

In 2012, Miller was awarded the Clark Mollenhoff Award for Investigative Reporting by the Institute on Political Journalism for her Washington Times column series "Emily Gets Her Gun," in which she describes her attempt to legally acquire and register a handgun in Washington D.C. after experiencing a home invasion.[10] In 2013, Miller was awarded the David & Goliath Award by Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership.[11] In, 2013, Miller published a book expanding upon her work in this series, titled Emily Gets Her Gun: But Obama Wants to Take Yours.[12]

In April 2014, WTTG, a Fox affiliate in Washington, D.C., announced their hiring of Miller as their chief investigative reporter.[8] In June 2016, she moved to One America News Network as their senior political correspondent.

In August 2020, Miller, who had no previous science or medical experience, was appointed as Assistant Commissioner for Media Affairs for the Food and Drug Administration, including being their top spokesperson, a role usually performed by non-political civil servants.[13] Two weeks later, she was dismissed from the position abruptly, reportedly due to repeated clashes with the Agency's staff and a lack of aptitude for communicating in the medical and scientific field.[14]

Controversies

Colin Powell interview

In 2004, while working as deputy press secretary to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Miller was criticized when she attempted to abruptly end an interview he was giving to Meet the Press. She instructed the cameraman to stop filming Powell, although Powell finished the interview after instructing Miller to allow him to continue. A spokesman for the State Department later defended Miller, saying that she had ended the interview because it had run long despite her "[making] every attempt to get NBC to finish up".[7][15][9][16][1]

Role in Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal

Miller received heavy news coverage in 2006 in connection to the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal after cooperating with FBI prosecutors who asked her about illegal activities committed by her ex-fiancé Michael Scanlon. Scanlon in turn went on to assist with the investigation of Jack Abramoff, who was his former business partner.[2] Miller was originally blamed as the first whistleblower in the scandal, although it later became clear that it was Tom Rodgers who exposed the fraud.[17]

Miller and some others have criticized the media for portraying her as a jilted ex-fiancé who decided to expose Scanlon as revenge when he called off their engagement.[1] In a 2009 interview with Howard Kurtz, Miller said that this portrayal was inaccurate, and described her difficulty escaping it. She also discussed contacting director George Hickenlooper and actor Kevin Spacey to try to be removed from the film Casino Jack, a 2010 comedy based on the Abramoff scandal in which she is portrayed by Rachelle Lefevre. She criticized the film for inaccurately portraying her as "a bitch,... materialistic,... bad in bed,... [and] abetting a federal crime".[1]

Home invasion

Miller has described herself as a victim of a home invasion several times, including in a speech at a gun lobbyist event and in a reenactment produced by NRA All Access. In a column in The Washington Times, and in her book Emily Gets Her Gun: But Obama Wants to Take Yours, she recounted the event as an outdoors encounter with a burglar who was leaving the home as she returned. In 2015, Erik Wemple of The Washington Post published several articles criticizing Miller for her inconsistent retellings of the incident, and highlighting discrepancies between her descriptions and police reports. Wemple accused her of exaggerating the story to advance her career as a gun lobbyist, saying "Nothing animates lobbying pushes quite like the story of a criminal invading the home of a law-abiding citizen."[12][18]

References
  1. Kurtz, Howard (November 23, 2009). "Howard Kurtz on blogger Emily Miller, Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  2. Mullins, Brody. "Behind Unraveling Of DeLay's Team, A Jilted Fiancée". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 6, 2018. (subscription required)
  3. "Larry Kudlow predicts 4%-5% growth, 'investment boom'". 16 March 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  4. "Political Communications Strategist Emily Miller Joins Axiom – Clout – Axiom Strategies". axiomstrategies.com. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  5. Owermohle, Sarah. "Postal service pressure turns to prescriptions". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  6. "Covid-19 Live Updates: 2 F.D.A. Public Relations Experts Are Fired After Plasma Fiasco". The New York Times. 2020-08-28. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  7. Radsch, Courtney C. (May 17, 2004). "Powell's Interview Is Cut Off". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  8. "WTTG Names Emily Miller Investigative Reporter". TVNewsCheck. April 3, 2014. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  9. Kopan, Tal (July 19, 2013). "Emily Miller". Politico. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  10. "Times' Emily Miller wins Mollenhoff Award". The Washington Times. May 23, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  11. Ammoland (September 30, 2013) "JPFO Presents Emily Miller with David & Goliath Award" Ammoland Featured Articles
  12. Wemple, Erik (February 26, 2015). "Gun rights-advocating local Fox reporter has told different versions of 'home invasion'". Washington Post. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  13. "Political newcomer Stephen Hahn struggles to protect an FDA under siege". STAT. 2020-08-24. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  14. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/28/fda-top-spokesperson-leaves-404422
  15. Leopald, Jason (January 3, 2006). "How they got caught: After lobbyist broke off engagement, ex-fiancee told of illicit dealings to FBI". Raw Story. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  16. Leiby, Richard (May 18, 2004). "Ever Consider A Career in Diplomacy?". Washington Post. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  17. Perks, Ashley (January 26, 2010). "The man who blew the whistle on Jack Abramoff tells the story of how he did it". The Hill. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  18. Wemple, Erik (March 3, 2015). "Additional document casts doubt on 'home invasion' of local Fox reporter". Washington Post. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
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