Max Miller faces ethics investigation and lawsuit after domestic abuse and nude-photo allegations

On August 2, Ohio Republican Representative Max Miller accidentally shared images of his two-year-old daughter’s genitalia while attempting to discredit other accusations against him—like holding a gun to his ex-wife’s head, scalding her with boiling water, and breaking said two-year-old daughter’s collarbone. Now, his ex-wife Emily Moreno—daughter of GOP Senator Bernie Moreno—is suing him for exposing their daughter to online pedophiles earlier this month.“Defendant Congressman Max Miller, and Miller’s lawyer, Defendant Aaron Minc of Defendant Minc LLC, recklessly published and disclosed to the world a nude image of the child depicting her genitalia,” Moreno’s lawyer, Subodh Chandra, wrote. “Faced with a mostly self-inflicted dumpster fire of public attention to his reputation for abusive behavior, Miller so desperately wanted to salvage his political job, that he recklessly and intentionally provided [his attorney Aaron Minc] a trove of documents and photos, indifferent about what they contained or how they were used.”Miller’s own lawyer was accused of initially lying about “the seriousness of their offense,” before he admitted to releasing the pictures himself.“Unfortunately, I missed the last three pages of a 40+ page document with sensitive content. It was completely unintentional and a mistake.... To be clear, this was completely my fault. I am solely responsible for what happened. I was the only person responsible for assembling, creating, reviewing, adding, deleting, redacting, or making any changes to the information and files that were in this folder,” Minc wrote days after the incident.“Any parent—and any lawyer—knows the grave danger of posting nude photos of a toddler on the public web for pedophiles and bad actors to download,” Moreno’s lawyer continued. “They victimized an innocent child to score political points, and we intend to hold them fully accountable under federal and state law.”This is just one of many, many fires for Miller. His father-in-law Senator Bernie Moreno has been virtually the only Republican to call for his resignation, saying he needed “serious psychological help.” “He is a danger to my daughter, and I hold my breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter,” Moreno wrote on X. “If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them.” Miller also received a restraining order from his ex-girlfriend and former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham. Miller has done his daughter—whose collarbone he’s already been accused of breaking—an incredible disservice, regardless of the outcome of this lawsuit. Even still, the entirety of GOP leadership from Trump to House Speaker Mike Johnson has stood steadfastly behind Miller as a House Ethics Committee investigation commences.

Republican congressman publicly shared links to evidence his team compiled in response to domestic abuse allegations Emily Moreno, the ex-wife of Max Miller, has sued the embattled Republican congressman and his lawyer for uploading a picture of their infant daughter to a publicly accessible Dropbox folder as part of their custody battle.The complaint argues that Miller “recklessly published and disclosed to the world a nude image” of their daughter. The photos in the lawsuit were part of a tranche of evidence that Miller’s team compiled in response to the domestic abuse allegations the lawmaker is facing following his divorce. Those allegations include holding a gun to Moreno’s head, pouring boiling water on her, and actions that resulted in his two-year-old daughter’s collarbone being broken, all of which Miller denies.In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org. Continue reading...

President Donald Trump reportedly shut down attempts to get Representative Max Miller, who is accused of abusing his daughter and ex-wife, to end his reelection campaign. Politico reports that Trump’s team asked Ohio Republicans last week not to publicly pressure Miller to drop out of the race, because the White House believed he would refuse to do so. Before the president got involved, other Republicans and some White House officials were urging Miller to leave the race. “They basically told us to back off,” one Ohio Republican told Politico, “and let the voters decide.”White House officials told GOP leaders and other Ohio Republicans that Miller’s determination to continue his reelection campaign would nullify efforts to get him to drop out, and then those leaders would have to defend Miller and his campaign against Democratic attacks from his challenger Brian Poindexter. The deadline for Miller to drop out was Monday at 4 p.m.. State Republican Party leaders would have to have held a meeting two days before that to discuss his replacement. Republicans reportedly considered holding such a meeting in order to pressure Miller to drop out, but after hearing from the White House, they abandoned that effort.Now, they are stuck defending Miller, whose seat is supposed to be solidly Republican. His former father-in-law is Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno, who has backed up his daughter’s abuse allegations and said Miller is unfit to serve. Ohio’s other senator, Republican Jon Husted, has called for Miller to resign and end his reelection bid. Miller has defiantly refused. Miller is accused of beating and burning his ex-wife Emily Moreno, fracturing his young daughter’s collarbone, holding her beloved stuffed bunny hostage, and sharing an inappropriate photo of her, among other numerous allegations. Meanwhile, Poindexter, a union ironworker, is seeing a surge in interest in his campaign to oust Miller from a seat once considered out of reach for Democrats.

MAGA world is unloading on Ohio Representative Max Miller.Senator Tim Sheehy tore into the Trump-backed congressman on Thursday, deriding him as a “degenerate sociopath.”“What kind of person would treat their daughter this way?” Sheehy wrote on X, referring to a recent incident in which Miller allegedly withheld his child’s favorite toy, seemingly out of spite. “This guy is clearly a degenerate sociopath.”“Max should step aside and seek help,” Sheehy continued. “Staying in this race makes it far more likely we lose this seat and hand Democrats a majority to impeach President Trump.”Miller stands accused of physically abusing his ex-wife and two-year-old child. Court filings and police reports detail incidents in which Miller allegedly threw his ex-wife against a wall, tossed scalding water on her, and held a gun to her head. Medical records submitted during the couple’s custody dispute also cited several injuries to their young daughter, including a broken collarbone that allegedly occurred during Miller’s care.Stephanie Grisham, who briefly served as a White House press secretary during Donald Trump’s first term and dated Miller between 2019 and 2020, has also accused him of physical abuse. The charges have made Miller a remarkably unpopular person, tanking his odds at the polls. Nonetheless, he has refused to back down, insisting on staying in the race through the November election.“I’m not going anywhere,” Miller told CNN Wednesday.Trump has similarly refused to peel back his endorsement for the second-term MAGA lawmaker. On Monday, Trump insisted to reporters that Miller is a “good person.”“I mean I always thought he was a very good person. And I’m going to let the families figure that out,” Trump said. “It’s accusations, and I’m going to let them figure that out.”The situation has sparked some high tension between Miller and his ultraconservative colleagues, who are also fretting over the possibility of losing their congressional majority. There seem to be three possible options for the contentious Ohio race: Miller withdraws himself to make way for a new nominee (which he must do by Saturday), or the Ohio Republican Party certifies a replacement nominee, which they would need to do by Monday. Otherwise, Miller will stay on the ballot.

GOP Representative Max Miller was accused of holding a gun to his ex-wife’s head, scalding her with boiling water, and breaking his two-year-old daughter’s collarbone. He also shared pictures of his daughter’s genitals. House Speaker Mike Johnson is still supporting him.“I haven’t spoken to Max about this in the last few days. Of course, I will,” Johnson told Politico’s Dasha Burns in an interview. “There’s all sorts of domestic events going on with 435 members of Congress all the time, it’s not my business to get engaged in it.”The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into the abuse claims against Miller, as well as allegations of drug use. The claims were made by his ex-wife Emily Moreno, daughter of Republican Senator Bernie Moreno.“I think Max is taking them seriously. I think our colleagues are,” Johnson continued. “But, again, we have to allow this process to play out. It’s just begun.”House Speaker Mike Johnson broke days of silence on the domestic abuse allegations against Rep. Max Miller in an interview with The Conversation.He told our @DashaBurns the claims are "serious" but insisted the House Ethics Committee process should run its course. pic.twitter.com/utuScRopJV— POLITICO (@politico) August 5, 2026It does not look like Miller is taking it seriously. He posted a 20-minute video on Sunday denying all of his ex-wife’s allegations, arguing that her being civil to him after the period of alleged abuse delegitimized them. His own lawyer admitted to accidentally uploading nude pictures of his daughter via Dropbox. Miller claimed that they were part of a Child Protective Services investigation. That same Dropbox contained recordings of Miller saying throwing hot water on Emily was a “playful incident.”Miller has remained indignant, making multiple media appearances—all of which make his situation look worse. He claimed on CNN Tuesday night that Johnson and the rest of the party were “standing behind” him.“My constituents know who I am, and they also know who my ex-father-in-law is, and they also know who my ex-wife is.... People aren’t running from me,” Miller told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “Speaker Mike Johnson, everyone else—they’re standing behind me. No one has told me to get off the ballot.”But even that’s up for debate. While Johnson offered tepid support, Senator Moreno said Miller needed “serious psychological help,” and called on him to step down from Congress and abandon his current reelection campaign. And Trump, who was also initially supportive, called Miller personally to tell him that things weren’t “looking good.”Even still, Johnson chose to trust the ethics committee process rather than call on Miller to end his train-wreck of a political career.“It’s, in his own words, a nasty divorce proceeding, and it’s gotten ugly and it’s gotten public,” Johnson said. “But he’s saying the same things privately to members that he is publicly, that he denies all this.... There’s a process. The House Ethics Committee does that. We always withhold judgment on this, whether it’s Republicans or Democrats.”Miller has five days to drop out if Republicans have any hope of replacing him on the ballot.🤯 Rep. Max Miller's interview with Jake Tapper is an utter trainwreck 🤯Miller went on CNN to try to push back against credible accusations that he abused his ex-wife and child, but he only made things worse for himself. He threatened his ex-wife's father (Sen. Bernie Moreno)… pic.twitter.com/BGOIcKIdKx— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 4, 2026

Ohio Representative Max Miller crashed and burned while attempting to downplay releasing a nude image of his young daughter as part of his crusade to deny domestic abuse allegations.During an interview on CNN Tuesday evening, Miller defended sharing a Dropbox folder over the weekend that contained a nude image of his two-year-old daughter that could qualify as child sexual abuse material. Anchor Jake Tapper asked Miller to explain the “shockingly reckless behavior” as the lawmaker challenged horrific abuse allegations brought by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno. “I wouldn’t say that it’s shockingly reckless,” Miller said, claiming that the photograph was already available to the public because it was part of an investigation by Child Protective Services. “This is being taken very much out of context,” Miller said. “There is no genitalia of my daughter that was exposed. And this is once again a very salacious headline.” “We called the court today, it’s not publicly available,” Tapper said, noting that Miller’s attorney, Aaron Minc, had publicly apologized for releasing the photo. “I’m not defending it, it’s awful,” Miller said. “You just defended it. You said it’s taken out of context,” Tapper said. “‘Cus it is taken out of context, in terms of how the articles have been written about it. I didn’t do this. My attorney took full responsibility. I believe that it’s awful. There was never any intent to do that,” Miller said. 🤯 Rep. Max Miller's interview with Jake Tapper is an utter trainwreck 🤯Miller went on CNN to try to push back against credible accusations that he abused his ex-wife and child, but he only made things worse for himself. He threatened his ex-wife's father (Sen. Bernie Moreno)… pic.twitter.com/BGOIcKIdKx— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 4, 2026An analysis conducted by Politico’s Playbook of metadata of four documents in Miller’s Dropbox folder revealed that the authorship was “Office of Rep. Max Miller—Legal Counsel.” After Playbook asked if congressional resources were used to create them, Minc said he would alter the metadata, which now reads: “Minc Law LLC.” Minc also said the error may have been the result of AI use.Phil Poe, Miller’s chief of staff, told Playbook that Miller had been the only one to handle the Dropbox documents, and insisted that Miller’s office doesn’t employ anyone with the title of “Legal Counsel.”This news is the latest domino to fall for Miller. Republican Senator Bernie Moreno, Miller’s ex-father-in-law, finally came out against the lawmaker on Sunday, saying he needed “serious psychological help,” and calling on him to step down from Congress and abandon his current reelection campaign. Moreno has since accused Miller of holding his daughter’s favorite stuffed animal hostage, and of putting Moreno’s family through “the seventh level of hell.”On Monday night, Miller reportedly received a call from President Donald Trump—who has publicly said he feels “badly” for the Republican congressman—to tell him that “things aren’t looking good” for his campaign. Miller was dealt another blow that same night when his ex-girlfriend, former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, filed a temporary restraining order against him.