Topline
Sen. John Husted, R-Ohio, joined the growing coalition of GOP lawmakers calling on Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, to resign from Congress amid abuse allegations made by his ex-wife, daughter of Ohio’s other GOP senator, Bernie Moreno.
Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, attends the Ways and Means Committee hearing on the priorities of the Treasury Department in Longworth building on Thursday, June 4, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Key Facts
Husted said in a lengthy statement that Miller should “step aside as a candidate and resign from Congress” and that “years from now, I believe he will look back and know it was the right choice” for his daughter, after saying earlier in the week he was “sad about the situation” and hoped President Donald Trump would “help move things along.”
Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., also joined the calls for Miller’s resignation on Thursday, writing in a statement he is “clearly a degenerate sociopath” in response to reports Miller withheld his 2-year-old daughter’s beloved stuffed bunny in a custody exchange over the weekend.
Bernie Moreno on Sunday said he believes Miller should resign, calling him a “danger to my daughter” who needs “serious psychological help” in a statement, his first amid an extensive custody battle between Emily Moreno and Miller.
Bernie Moreno made the statement after Miller released a 20-minute video on Sunday denying his ex-wife’s allegations, including that he threw scalding water on her and held a gun to her head, and also said he has never physically abused their daughter.
Multiple Senate Republicans backed Bernie Moreno’s call for Miller’s resignation, including Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who told Politico, “he should resign. He should quit . . . I don’t know Mr. Miller’s story, but I trust Bernie so much as a good friend, and his family has such high values,” and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va, who also said she didn’t have detailed knowledge of the allegations, but if Bernie Moreno “thinks he ought to resign, I’m supportive of that.”
Others stopped short of calling for Miller to step down, but said they trust Bernie Moreno’s judgement: “I don’t know enough about the allegations, but like Bernie said, it sounds like he thinks he needs psychological help,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Politico, adding, “I trust Bernie,” while Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., told Politico, “it would surprise me if Bernie were being untruthful.”
contra
Some Republicans, including President Donald Trump, who hired Miller to work on his campaign and in his first administration and spoke at his 2022 wedding to Emily Moreno held at his Bedminster Golf Club, and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, have vouched for Miller’s character, with Jordan calling him a “good man” in a CNN interview this week and Trump telling reporters “he’s a good person . . . I’m going to let the families figure that out.”
how have the allegations complicated Miller’s re-election bid?
Democrats have seized on the allegations with campaign ads highlighting the accusations and calls for his resignation. Prior to Sunday’s video some election forecasters moved his seat as more favorable to Republicans, and at least one, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, said it would move the seat to a toss-up if he didn’t step down. Miller narrowly won re-election to his Cleveland-area district in 2024 with 51% of votes.
What did Miller say in the video?
Miller emphasized that multiple investigations into Emily Moreno’s accusations against him have not led to formal charges of wrongdoing, alleging, without evidence, that Emily Moreno has “struggled with significant mental health challenges” and the accusations were made “in the heat of our custody fight.” Miller also laid out a timeline of when the alleged abuse Emily Moreno has accused him of occurred, and detailed friendly exchanges he said he had with Emily Moreno after the alleged incidents, including an invitation to dinner at her home two days after she claimed he allegedly pointed a gun at her. He published text messages with Emily Moreno and recordings of conversations with her he said support his claims of innocence. Emily Moreno’s lawyer, Subodh Chandra, alleged Miller published an unclothed photo of the couple’s daughter with the documents he released Sunday that “could be considered Child Sexual Abuse Material,” Chandra wrote in a letter to Miller’s lawyer, Aaron Minc. Chandra said the photo was removed from the file. Minc took responsibility for publishing the photo, calling it “an unfortunate mistake” in a statement to Politico, adding that he was “solely responsible” for reviewing the documents.”
Tangent
Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who dated Miller, accused him of pushing her against a wall and slapping her in the face in 2020, she wrote in a 2021 Washington Post op-ed in connection with the release of her memoir. She did not name Miller at the time, but the description made it obvious she was referring to him. He sued her for defamation, and they settled the lawsuit. She filed a new lawsuit against him last month, claiming he violated the agreement by making disparaging remarks about her while discussing Emily Moreno’s allegations against him. Grisham on Monday filed a temporary restraining order against Miller, her lawyer Mark Zaid announced on X, but it’s unclear why.
Key Background
Allegations of physical abuse made by Emily Moreno against Miller first became public in May in the Daily Mail, which published photos of bruises Emily Moreno said were caused by the abuse. Mother Jones then published a lengthy report in July based on court filings and police records it obtained detailing investigations into the abuse allegations and custody dispute, including a February incident when their daughter broke her collarbone. Emily Moreno did not explicitly accuse Miller of breaking their daughter’s collarbone, according to Mother Jones, but told detectives Miller had previously thrown hot water at her and held a gun to her head. She also told detectives she never filed a police report against Miller, because she feared “no one would believe her,” Mother Jones reported. Child services investigators in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where the couple lived, reportedly found the child abuse allegations were “unsubstantiated,” though one of the detectives wrote that the injury was “suspicious.”
allegations of volatile behavior against miller date back years
In the court records reviewed by Mother Jones, Emily Moreno accused Miller of violent behavior toward women dating back to high school. Politico in 2021 published an extensive report, based on public records and interviews with more than 60 people, who detailed allegations of volatile behavior by Miller, including allegedly pushing a girl, causing her to fall down the stairs, in high school after she denied his advances, a claim he denied to Politico through his attorney, and a 2011 arrest for operating a vehicle while impaired. The Washington Post also reported on some of the earlier accusations detailed by Politico in a 2018 article about inexperienced Trump appointees, including a 2007 incident in which Miller was charged with punching a man in the back of the head and running from police (he pleaded no contest and the case was dismissed). In 2009, he was charged with underage drinking (the case was dismissed in a first offenders’ program) and in 2010, he was charged with disorderly conduct related to a fight outside of a hookah bar (he pleaded guilty), The Washington Post reported.
further reading
Ex-Trump aide files defamation suit over abuse allegations (Associated Press)
Max Miller, Accused of Abuse, Is Not Stepping Aside. Here’s What We Know. (New York Times)
Ohio Senator Calls Former Son-in-Law Accused of Abuse Unfit for Office (New York Times)