EXCLUSIVE — Former Rep. George Santos told the Washington Examiner he thinks Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) should “step aside” as Miller faces renewed scrutiny over domestic violence allegations made by his ex-wife.
Santos, who is the most recent member to be expelled from the House, made the comments after Miller has been accused by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, of physically harming her.
“My entire life was destroyed. Everybody ganged up on me and pounded, but you know what? I’m not going to sit here and play the revenge tour,” Santos told the Washington Examiner.
“For me, if you’re asking my objective opinion, yes, I think it’s reprehensible, abhorrent behavior and conduct for Max Miller, and I think he should step aside and go deal with this in private, not on the taxpayer dime,” Santos continued. “That’s my opinion, and then secondly, I think that it’s quite telling that when everybody pointed fingers at me, they were pointing four fingers back at themselves, and it’s quite hypocritical.”
Miller, who is running for reelection, has come under intense scrutiny as a bitter and public legal battle with Moreno, the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), has played out. The New York Times detailed that Moreno alleged Miller “scalded her chest and stomach by throwing hot water from a skillet at her body; held a gun to her head; pushed her against a wall and hit her head; and fractured their daughter’s collarbone and bruised her shoulder.”
Miller has denied all of the allegations.
“I mean, abusing his wife, throwing hot water at her, putting a gun to her head, allegedly, and then breaking his kid’s collarbone — that’s like monstrous, that’s monstrous behavior,” Santos continued.
In August 2024, just two years after getting married, Miller and Moreno filed for divorce and have since been in a custody battle over their daughter. Miller filed a defamation lawsuit against Moreno in May for the allegations published across many outlets.
Miller and Santos have sparred in the past, before Santos’s expulsion from Congress.
Miller sent a letter in 2023 to his colleagues claiming that Santos’s campaign “had charged my personal credit card — and the personal card of my Mother — for contribution amounts that exceeded FEC limits. Neither my Mother nor I approved these charges or were aware of them.” He added that he spent “tens of thousands of dollars” in legal fees as a result of the situation.
Also in 2023, Miller and Santos traded barbs on the House floor, with the Ohio congressman addressing Santos directly, “You, sir, are a crook.”
Santos fired back, “My colleague wants to come up here, call me a crook. Same colleague who’s accused of being a woman beater.”
“At the time, there was substantial rumors going on in the GOP conference hearing of him being abusive to his spouse, and nobody really wanted to act on anything because I was a common punching bag,” Santos told the Washington Examiner of that interaction.
Santos was expelled from Congress in 2023 by his colleagues following federal charges, and he was later sentenced to serve nearly seven years in prison. But he was released after about three months following a pardon from President Donald Trump.
While Miller has shown no signs of any plans to resign, expulsion would be an uphill battle.
Expulsion is the most severe form of congressional punishment and takes two-thirds of the chamber. Santos was the most recent member to face expulsion.
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All of this comes as three members have resigned this Congress — former Reps. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales, who were both accused of sexual misconduct, and former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who was accused of financial misconduct.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Miller’s office for comment.