Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) is facing renewed scrutiny after court filings and police interviews detail allegations from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, that he physically assaulted her. The filings claim that he once held a gun to her head. Miller has strongly denied the claims, describing them as false and part of a bitter custody dispute.
Who is Emily Moreno?
Emily Moreno is Max Miller's ex-wife and the daughter of Ohio's Republican senior Senator Bernie Moreno. Max and Emily also has a daughter together. They got married in 2022 and had a daughter in 2023. And he filed for divorce in August 2024.
As per America First Policy Institute (AFPI), Emily Moreno serves as Deputy Director of State Action. She previously worked at Big Dog Strategies, raising funds for a key Ohio Senate race. Before that, she was a campaign manager during the 2020 primary cycle and worked for the Trump Victory team in Washington, DC. She has also worked at the DCI Group, on Senator Johnson's Senate campaign, and on Senator Rubio's 2016 presidential campaign. Moreno serves on the Ohio Right to Life Board of Directors.
What are the abuse allegations?
{{/usCountry}}What are the abuse allegations?
{{/usCountry}}In police videos obtained by CNN in June, Moreno described an incident on New Year's Eve in which she alleged Miller put a gun on her while she was changing their infant daughter's diaper. “I was changing the baby, and I couldn't do that with the lights off. So I had to turn the light on, and that made him upset,” she said. Asked when the gun came into play, she said, "When I'm changing," and when asked what Miller did, she replied, "Holds it on me." A police incident report indicated the gun was allegedly held to her head.
Moreno also described a separate incident in February, saying that when she arrived at Miller's house to bring their daughter to a birthday party, Miller got upset "because I was just taking away his parenting time," and that "he threw me into the wall and I fell on the ground."
In further court filings responding to Miller's defamation suit, Moreno alleged that in June 2024, before their divorce, Miller "took hot water from a pan he had just cooked eggs in and threw it at me." She said, "Shocked, I fell to the floor and lay there in a fetal position. Congressman Miller took the sprayer from the sink and continued to spray me with hot water." She called it “one of the final straws in our marriage.”
How did Max Miller react?
Miller has denied all the allegations. He called the gun claim a “complete fabrication,” saying, “I don't have a weapon that's even easily accessible in my home like that. Every single weapon that I have is locked up.” He added, “I am fighting to clear my name. And that will come out in the truth.”
On the wall-throwing allegation, Miller pointed to texts he says Moreno sent him afterward inviting him to lunch, as well as Ring camera video he shared online that he said showed Moreno leaving his home without incident. He also called the hot water allegation "a complete fabrication," saying a handwritten letter Moreno cited referred to a political dispute with her father, not the alleged incident.
Miller also alleged that Moreno struggles with mental illness, saying in his police interview that she “has a history, and she was diagnosed bipolar a long time ago.” Moreno's attorney has denied she has a bipolar disorder diagnosis, with her spokesperson saying Miller “is making accusations without evidence.”
The dispute between Miller and Moreno has escalated into a custody fight, a defamation lawsuit filed by Miller and restraining orders against both parties.