Republican Rep. Max Miller of Ohio went live on X on Sunday morning to deny abuse allegations made by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, and to declare that he is staying in the race for his House seat. In a roughly 17-minute livestream with family photographs behind him, Miller said the accusations have already been examined and that no court or agency has substantiated any claim against him. «I have nothing to hide,» he said.
Miller, who served as a White House adviser during Donald Trump’s first term, faces renewed pressure over allegations that he abused his former wife and their daughter during a bitter divorce. The allegations have been public for years, but they recently drew increased media scrutiny as the legal dispute with his ex-wife escalated. Democrats, sensing an opportunity in a northeast Ohio district that Miller won two years ago with just over 51 percent of the vote, have called on him to resign, requested a congressional ethics investigation and suggested that more help could be directed in the fall toward his Democratic opponent, union ironworker Brian Poindexter. Miller has denied the abuse allegations and filed defamation lawsuits against his ex-wife and a second accuser.
In his livestream, Miller addressed the specific accusations directly, including claims that he threw Moreno against a wall, held a gun to her head and threw hot water on her. He argued that the alleged incidents did not lead to police reports or hospital visits. Regarding the assault allegation, Miller said Moreno went straight to a child’s birthday party instead of contacting authorities. He rejected the gun allegation as «absolutely outrageous,» saying it never happened and noting that, two days after the alleged incident, Moreno asked him to come over for dinner and stay the night.
Miller described the hot water story, which he said concerned an incident in June 2024 while the couple was still married, as «horseplay» in the kitchen. He said he sprayed water at Moreno using the sprayer attached to the kitchen sink and that tap water does not reach boiling or scalding temperature. He added that text messages from that day show Moreno laughing and that she never sought medical attention. Miller also cited an Oct. 7 recording in which, he said, Moreno described him as a very kind person who she did not think would ever hurt her physically. He said a court-appointed parent coordinator testified under oath about a photograph shown to her in connection with the claim. Miller suggested that his ex-wife has documented mental health circumstances that may have played a role in the allegations.
Miller released a trove of documents through Dropbox that he says undermines the allegations. The documents, he wrote after their release, were paid for by Miller and produced by his lawyers. He said no criminal charge has ever been filed against him and that every allegation had already been investigated. «I can literally walk you all through this,» he said during the livestream. «These are incredibly serious criminal accusations. And if these accusations were true, I would be in jail.» His former wife, he added, would not have invited him to dinner and to playgrounds if the accusations were true.
The response from Moreno’s family was sharp. Sen. Bernie Moreno, the Ohio Republican who is Emily Moreno’s father, stood by his daughter’s allegations and called on Miller to resign and receive «serious psychological help.» In a statement, Bernie Moreno said he had hoped to keep the matter private but that Miller’s «increasingly erratic and dangerous behavior» made that impossible. He said Miller is a danger to his daughter and that he holds his breath every minute Miller has custody of his granddaughter. «If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them,» Bernie Moreno wrote.
Miller said he chose to present his account directly on X after concluding that traditional media interviews would not allow him to give his full response. He accused reporters of accepting the allegations as fact without adequately examining court records, child welfare findings and communications between him and his former wife. Miller also said he is not leaving the race. «I’m not getting out of this race, and I’m winning in November,» he said. The deadline for Miller to resign and be replaced on the November ballot is Wednesday, adding urgency to the political fallout as Democrats consider whether to invest more heavily in the district.