3 Women Have Accused Ohio Congressman Max Miller of Abuse. Now His Own Father-in-Law, a Sitting US Senator, Is Publicly Calling Him a Danger Who Needs Psychological Help.
· Thought Catalog
Updated 2 minutes ago, August 5, 2026
Sen. Bernie Moreno says his daughter Emily “lives in constant fear” of her ex-husband, Rep. Max Miller, the Ohio Republican and former Trump White House aide she has accused of abusing her during their two-year marriage. “She fears what this guy is capable of,” Moreno told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday. “I hope you never have to understand what my daughter’s been through.”
The condemnation followed a Sunday livestream in which Miller denied the allegations and posted a Dropbox of documents, audio, and medical records he said proved his innocence. Among the files was an image of the couple’s 2-year-old daughter. Emily Moreno’s attorneys said in a court filing that the folder left the child’s name unredacted and was viewed more than 204,000 times in under 24 hours, and that at least one image “could be considered Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) because the daughter’s genitals appear to be visible.” Miller’s attorney Aaron Minc took sole responsibility, calling it “completely unintentional and a mistake” and disputing the CSAM characterization: “A two-year-old girl had her shirt off.”
Emily Moreno’s allegations, detailed in police interviews obtained by CNN and in court filings, include Miller throwing hot water from a pan of eggs at her chest in June 2024, holding a gun to her head on New Year’s Eve while she changed their infant’s diaper, and shoving her into a wall during a February 2026 custody exchange, leaving bruises on her arm and torso. Their daughter later suffered a fractured collarbone and bruising a child-protection specialist likened to a “handprint.” The child-welfare investigation was ruled unsubstantiated, and no criminal charges have been filed.
Two other women have come forward. Former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, who dated Miller around 2020 and accused him of slapping her and pushing her into walls in his Washington apartment, filed for a temporary restraining order Monday. Politico reported in 2021 that a high school classmate said Miller shoved her into a wall and down a flight of stairs at his Shaker Heights home in the mid-2000s, with three people present corroborating the account. Miller “categorically” denies all of it, has sued Moreno for defamation, and attributes her claims to mental health issues she denies. On his Sunday livestream he asked, “If I had assaulted her, would she have offered to cook me dinner six days later?”
Sen. Moreno first broke his months-long silence in an Aug. 2 statement on X calling Miller “a danger to my daughter” and saying he “hold[s] his breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter.” Sen. Roger Marshall has since said Miller “should resign. He should quit.” Miller says he’s requesting a House Ethics Committee investigation into his own conduct to “clear my name” and vows to stay in the race: “I’m winning in November.”
Most of his colleagues have stayed silent, following President Donald Trump’s Monday declaration that Miller is a “good person” and that he’d “let the families figure that out.” Miller has until Aug. 10 to withdraw from Ohio’s midterm ballot.
Stay in the loop with Thought Catalog — follow us on Facebook or visit our website.