Did Vem Miller plot to assassinate Donald Trump? Or did the Riverside County Sheriff use a weapons violation as a means to promote himself as a hero? 

Jazz wrote earlier about Miller's release and going into hiding as a curious approach for law enforcement to an alleged assassin.  A new lawsuit from Miller may explain everything:

The man arrested at a checkpoint outside of former President Donald Trump’s rally in California on Saturday for illegally possessing two loaded firearms filed a lawsuit on Tuesday accusing Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco of damages including defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy.

Vem Miller, the 49-year-old Las Vegas man arrested outside the rally, said in his filing that Bianco “wanted to create a narrative so as to be viewed as a ‘heroic’ Sheriff who saved Presidential candidate Trump from a third assassination attempt.” Miller also named Riverside County, the sheriff’s department itself and a deputy in his lawsuit, though Bianco is the only defendant listed by name.

Why would Bianco want to generate a heroic persona? Well, he has ambitions for higher office, and sooner rather than later. Six months ago, Politico profiled Bianco to highlight his discernment over a run for governor, leveraging his status as a "Fox News favorite":

A political adviser for Bianco told POLITICO the sheriff has been approached in recent months by a number of elected officials and leaders about joining the crowded race for governor. Republicans are a longshot to win, but Bianco could spoil the contest for a second Democrat by consolidating the right in the primary.

“California has a lot of problems and they’re looking outside the Sacramento political class to bring the state back,” said his adviser, Nick Mirman.

“No decision has been made and he’s continuing to have conversations,” Mirman added.

Republican "firebrands" don't have much chance of competing for statewide offices in deep-blue California. However, such political campaigns certainly magnify visibility for Republicans who try, and increase their value on the talk circuit and on fundraising campaigns. That's especially true for Republicans who belonged to the now-defunct Oath Keepers, part of which morphed into a radical militia involved in the January 6 riot, and whose leaders got convicted on related charges. Bianco correctly notes that they were a different group in 2014 when he briefly signed up for it and then withdrew, but that would inevitably come up in any political campaign.

So yes, Bianco does have at least some motive to turn this arrest into a PR event. But did he? Well, that depends on just what evidence Bianco has about Miller's intent. Miller acknowledges being a "gun novice" who was unaware that Nevada and California have very different laws about firearms possession. (That kind of ignorance is another good reason to go through concealed-carry training whether or not one plans to exercise that right, by the way.) Miller claims he's never even fired the weapons, let alone carried them for any malicious purpose. 

Miller released a video statement on Tuesday that pushed back on all of the allegations except the weapons violations:

JUST IN: Vem Miller, the man accused of a so-called "third Trump assassination attempt" denies these reports and pushes back in a statement released online.

Miller states he is a Trump supporter who was invited to be at the Coachella rally. He adds that he told officers he had… pic.twitter.com/TcV5hs6l86

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) October 14, 2024

Miller could be lying about all of this, of course, and he has lots of motives to declare his innocence ... including actual innocence, perhaps. But it is also exceedingly strange for law enforcement to publicly accuse a suspect of a very serious crime, and then book and release them on misdemeanors for only $5000 cash bail. Most agencies will hold those conclusions close to the vest while they present evidence to a grand jury for a new indictment. We have a pretty recent precedent for this in Florida, when the FBI and Florida agencies refrained from publicizing a conclusion that the suspect had attempted an assassination at Trump's golf course, referring to an ongoing investigation until the grand jury returned the indictment.

Perhaps that will happen in this case, too. If Bianco has evidence that points to an assassination attempt, then the defamation case will get mooted pretty quickly. If not, however, then Bianco and Riverside County will have some legal issues to unravel. Bianco's statement certainly didn't get framed as commentary or opinion, after all, and Miller wasn't a "public person" under the Sullivan standard either. That puts him in a better position than Mark Robinson in his defamation action against CNN, and CNN also at least did some due diligence before publishing their allegations against the North Carolina lieutenant governor. 

At the very least, this arrest and the circus around it reminds us to retain some skepticism over law-enforcement claims and leaks until we get a chance to see the evidence, or at least an indictment. The circumstances of this arrest look strange, to say the least, and Miller may get his day in court in more ways than one.