House Ethics Committee opens probe into abuse claims against Miller

Ballot deadline nears as Ohio GOP seat turns competitive

The House Ethics Committee announced Tuesday that it would open an investigation into abuse accusations against Rep. Max Miller (R., Ohio), after Miller asked the panel to examine the claims to clear his name. Miller’s ex-wife, Emily Moreno, accused him in court filings and police reports of physically abusing her and their 2-year-old daughter, allegations he has denied. The announcement came as the dispute between Miller and his former father-in-law, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R., Ohio), escalated publicly.

The conflict arrives as deadlines approach, within days, for Miller to withdraw from the race so that his party can replace him on the ballot. House Republican leaders had considered his seat safe until a couple of weeks ago. Democrats, who need a net gain of three seats to take control of the House, have tapped Brian Poindexter, a union ironworker and local city council member, to challenge him. Miller was first elected in 2022 and won his 2024 election with 51% of the vote.

“If Max Miller is on the ballot, this is one of the most vulnerable seats in the country for Republicans. If he drops, the GOP might be able to salvage it,” one Ohio-based Republican strategist said.

In court filings and police reports, Emily Moreno accused her former husband of throwing boiling water at her, holding a gun to her head, and other physical abuse. She also alleged that their daughter’s collarbone was broken while she was under Miller’s care. Miller has categorically denied those allegations. He said the Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services, after an investigation, found that accusations he had abused his daughter were not substantiated. Both parents share custody of their daughter.

Moreno, a businessman and auto dealer elected to the Senate in 2024, said Sunday that Miller was not fit to serve in Congress. Some Republican senators declined to discuss the dispute or expressed support for Moreno. On Tuesday, in a Senate hallway, he told reporters the experience has been “truly, the seventh level of hell.” “This has been a horrific experience for my entire family,” Moreno said. He said his daughter lives in constant fear of Miller. “Not like something that’s existential, but deeply in her heart, she fears what this guy is capable of,” Moreno said. Moreno said he had not spoken up previously because his daughter had asked him to de-escalate for her daughter’s sake.

Miller, in an interview Tuesday, said he is in hell right alongside Moreno. “It’s one that he helped create and nurture and enable.” On the other side of the Capitol, House Republican leaders have been trying to work with Miller, but he has not been receptive, people familiar with the conversations said. Miller and his team have ignored advice and at times blindsided GOP leaders with his public comments and actions, these people said.

Shortly before Moreno called Miller unfit for office on Sunday, the two men met for a handoff of Miller’s daughter. Moreno told reporters that Miller refused to hand over a blue bunny the little girl sleeps with. “Literally held it hostage for 48 hours,” Moreno said. “This girl is crying at night because she can’t sleep without her little blue bunny.” Miller said his daughter has multiple blue bunnies and that he didn’t keep a bunny from her.

Emily Moreno and Miller married in 2022 at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, N.J., a wedding that linked two politically connected Ohio families. Both had worked with Trump and on political campaigns, and Trump personally toasted them. Two years later, on the couple’s wedding anniversary, Miller filed for divorce.