Suit seeks $150,000 for each download of the image
Emily Moreno, the ex-wife of Republican Rep. Max Miller of Ohio, has filed a federal lawsuit against the congressman and his attorney alleging they made a nude image of their infant daughter publicly accessible through a Dropbox folder shared on social media. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, argues that Miller “recklessly published and disclosed to the world a nude image” of their daughter. Miller’s social media posts containing the link were seen or interacted with by more than 400,000 people, according to the lawsuit.
The image was part of a tranche of evidence Miller’s legal team compiled in response to the domestic abuse allegations facing the congressman following his divorce from Moreno. The suit alleges that Miller “so desperately wanted to salvage his political job” that he “recklessly and intentionally” provided his lawyer, Aaron Minc, with “a trove of documents and photos, indifferent about what they contained or how they were used.” Miller then shared the link to the files online on Aug. 2 after going live on social media to deny the allegations against him.
The lawsuit demands $150,000 in damages “for every time someone accessed, transferred, distributed, published, or downloaded the image” of Moreno and Miller’s daughter. Minc had previously accepted sole responsibility for inadvertently releasing the unredacted photo in the files. The Guardian has reached out to both Miller and Minc for their response to the latest lawsuit.
The underlying abuse allegations, which Miller denies, include claims that he held a gun to Moreno’s head, poured boiling water on her, and engaged in actions that resulted in their two-year-old daughter’s collarbone being broken. The new lawsuit marks the latest escalation in the legal disputes between Miller and Moreno.
Miller, who is seeking re-election in Ohio, has faced a wave of calls to resign from members of his own party, including his father-in-law, Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno. President Donald Trump has remained largely supportive of the congressman, who represents a conservative district. There are also reports that the White House squashed efforts to replace Miller on the ballot for the November midterm election.
The Democratic challenger, Brian Poindexter, has ramped up attacks on his opponent. “No one credibly accused of holding a gun to his wife’s head and breaking their two-year-old daughter’s collarbone belongs in the halls of power,” Poindexter said recently on X. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has added Poindexter to its “Red to Blue” program, which identifies districts the party believes it can flip from Republican to Democratic control in November.