At least four Ohio television stations started rolling out a campaign advertisement from Democrat Brian Poindexter, who used the domestic violence allegations facing Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) to his advantage in the congressional race.
The 30-second spot featured a local sheriff declaring the Republican incumbent is not the right man for the job, citing the alleged abuse of his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, and their 2-year-old daughter.
“Max Miller’s wife has a restraining order against him. A judge signed it,” Summit County Sheriff Kandy Fatheree said. “Court documents say that Miller beat her. Held a gun to her head. Child welfare found a broken collarbone on their 2-year-old, broken under his care and with suspicious bruising.”
In a cease-and-desist letter dated Sept. 17, Miller’s lawyer Alejandro Brito maintained those statements were “false, malicious, and defamatory.” The letter urged WKYC and other stations to refrain from broadcasting the ad in Ohio. Otherwise, Brito wrote, they “will be doing so with knowledge that they are false.”
Multiple television stations, including WKYC, started running the campaign ad on Tuesday morning. One of the other stations confirmed receipt of the cease-and-desist letter while providing its reasoning for why it decided to publish the ad.
“The WEWS-TV legal team evaluated the ad as we always do,” WEWS said in an article. “Federal Communications Commission rules prohibit stations from censoring ads purchased by candidates like Poindexter. Therefore, the ad will air.”
The ad ended with Fatheree saying, “34 years in law enforcement tells me Max Miller does not belong in power.”
Poindexter celebrated that the ad was airing despite Miller’s legal threat, insisting that “people deserve the facts about” him.
The congressman’s office disputed the ad’s statements about Miller, who continues denying the allegations.
“The ad mentioned is filled with lies,” Miller spokeswoman Abigail Angelos said. “Each of the statements in the advertisement are entirely unsubstantiated and contradicted by evidence.”
Miller’s lawyer gave the recipients of the cease-and-desist letter until Monday to comply with the demand. Now that they have ignored the legal threat, Miller could be filing a lawsuit soon to seek damages.
Poindexter responded to his opponent’s legal threat by ripping the cease-and-desist letter in half, showing he is not deterred by a possible defamation lawsuit.
Miller has faced scrutiny for the past several weeks after he denied the abuse allegations in a video while claiming his ex-wife exhibited poor mental health. Moreno is the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), who had choice words for his former son-in-law, calling Miller unfit to serve and in need of psychological treatment.
Despite the interpersonal drama, President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) refuse to withdraw their support for Miller. First elected to represent Ohio’s 7th Congressional District in November 2022, Miller is seeking a third term this election cycle.