Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) filed a complaint against his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, on Wednesday, alleging that the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) and her legal team defamed him by portraying him as an “abusive father and husband.”
Miller filed the lawsuit in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and is seeking at least $25,000 for damages made to his character and career after his ex-wife and her lawyers told media outlets that he had abused her, including TMZ, the Daily Mail, and the Daily Beast, according to the complaint.
In the complaint, Miller alleges Emily Moreno and her legal team, Andrew Zashin and Zashin Law, amplified the publications the reported their statements for “the strategic purpose of seeking their ‘15 minutes of fame’ and marketing themselves at the expense of destroying Plaintiff’s personal and professional reputation, prejudicing the public against him during his service in Congress, and his campaign for re-election, republished their false and defamatory statements on their website.”
Miller filed for divorce in August 2024, on the day of their second wedding anniversary. The two have since been engaged in an ongoing public dispute on the circumstances surrounding the split.
The Daily Mail reported at the beginning of May that Miller had allegedly “hurled” boiling water at Emily Moreno, with whom he has a child, and shared photos of injuries allegedly caused by the reported attack. Miller specifically notes this incident, calling the claim that he “committed battery on Moreno,” allegedly in front of their daughter, as false and dishonest.
Miller was quick to dispute the claims reported and went on to claim Bernie Moreno was funding the “malicious campaign to ruin [his] life despite his knowledge of her mental health issues.” Miller told the senator that the “antics harm [his] own grandchild.”
The Ohio congressman got his start in politics working for Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign in 2016, before moving to Donald Trump’s campaign in the same year.
He continued working closely with Trump throughout his first term. In 2018, the Washington Post reported that Miller had lied on his resume and falsely claimed to be a Marine Corps recruiter.
Miller also reportedly had a romantic relationship with former White House aide Stephanie Grisham from 2019 to 2021. Grisham claimed Miller was physically abusive, which Miller disputed, also suing her for defamation. Miller voluntarily dismissed the case with prejudice, according to reporting by Cleveland.com.
“Mr. Miller is upset because he’s tried to silence Emily Moreno the same way he silenced Stephanie Grisham — and Emily won’t let him,” said a spokesperson for Moreno. “He sued Grisham in 2021 on materially identical facts, quietly dropped it in 2023, then put a million-dollar chokehold on her; now he’s running the same playbook against a woman with photographs of her bruises and burns, a letter in his own handwriting calling himself ‘worthless’ with guilt ‘eating me alive,’ and a sworn declaration his lawyers were forced to retract after admitting the witness was never there.”
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Even before being in the public eye, Miller has a history of court proceedings dating back to 2007 when he was charged with assault, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest, which were later dismissed. He was charged with underage drinking in 2009, which was dismissed; disorderly conduct due to a late-night physical altercation in 2010, in which he pleaded guilty; and operating a vehicle while impaired in 2011, in which he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Miller for comment.