Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) said Sunday that his former son-in-law, Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) should seek professional help and should not serve in Congress citing allegations of domestic abuse against his daughter and granddaughter.
“If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them. He should not serve in the House of Representatives,” Moreno wrote on X. “I believe Max Miller needs to seek professional help to end the clear pattern of abuse he has left in his wake. I believe he should not be free to continue endangering others until he does.”
Miller reaffirmed his plans to seek reelection in a livestream on X and denied the allegations of abuse from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno.
The two-term congressman released files containing court documents, text messages, audio recordings and videos that he says back up his side of the ongoing dispute.
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“My former wife is engaging in a pattern of reporting incredible, serious and destructive allegations with absolutely no evidence,” Miller said Sunday on the livestream.
“God bless you all,” Miller said later, directing people to view his Dropbox files. “I’m not getting out of this race, and I’m winning in November, and I’ll be back in the 120th” congressional session.
Emily Moreno and Miller were married from 2022 to 2025. The couple have one daughter. The domestic abuse allegations surfaced in May, complicating his reelection bid in the midterms to determine which party controls Congress.
“It is shameful that Max Miller decided to go on a bizarre and lie-filled rant about his ex-wife to desperately try to save his political career,” Stefan Mychajliw, a spokesperson for Emily Moreno, wrote in a statement posted after the livestream. “No loving parent would have ever used their daughter as a PR pawn to save their own political career. Miller can lie and spin on X, but he cannot do so under oath in a court of law. We are confident that justice will prevail in court.”
Emily Moreno asked the court on Thursday to issue a restraining order against Miller preventing him from contacting her lawyer alleging the congressman had physical and verbal altercations with her attorney Andrew Zashin.
During their marriage, Miller allegedly threw hot or scalding water at Emily Moreno during an argument which caused burns to her body, according to court filings in the legal battle. Emily Moreno also said in court filings that Miller shoved her against a wall during one confrontation and held a gun to her head in another incident. Miller has denied all of the allegations.
“It was horseplay in our kitchen,” Miller said Sunday about the hot water incident. “I sprayed water at her from the sprayer attached to our kitchen sink tap water, which does not reach boiling temperature or scalding.”
Mother Jones reported last month that Emily Moreno said she could not rule out the possibility that Miller caused their daughter’s broken collarbone due to his alleged history of violence toward her.
Miller on Sunday disputed that account.
“I had dropped my daughter off with my former wife before that injury was even discovered,” Miller said. “She was not in my care during that time, and when I found out about her injury, I canceled my trip to Florida to be there for her while she recovered.”
Sen. Moreno, who told NOTUS last week that “I don’t know” if Miller should be replaced on the ticket, said Sunday on X that he is seriously concerned whenever Miller is watching his grandchild.
“He is a danger to my daughter, and I hold my breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter,” Moreno wrote.
Miller said Emily Moreno has “struggled with significant mental health challenges,” and he believes it has contributed to the allegations against him.
Miller’s X account posted a link to Dropbox with a slew of files, though the link was quickly deleted. The congressman blamed the website, and pushed back that the files were not made using congressional resources: “Just to be clear: these documents were produced by my personal attorneys and paid for by me directly.” He reposted them later Sunday morning.
Emily Moreno’s comments about Miller aren’t the first allegations of domestic abuse the Ohio congressman has faced.
Miller, who served as an aide to President Donald Trump in his first term, dated White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham in 2020. After their relationship ended, Grisham published an opinion piece in The Washington Post describing abuse she endured from an unnamed former partner. Grisham later identified Miller as her abuser. He denied the allegations, arguing they coincided with the release of her memoir.
Miller sued Grisham for defamation in 2021, and they reached a confidential settlement in 2023. Grisham sued Miller earlier this month for allegedly breaking the terms of the settlement and speaking publicly about the case.
This story has been updated to include a statement from Emily Moreno’s spokesperson.
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