Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said Sunday on X that his former son-in-law Rep. Max Miller “needs to seek professional help” and should not serve in Congress following domestic abuse allegations made by Miller’s ex-wife, Emily Moreno, the senator’s daughter.
“Out of concern for the safety of my family, I hoped to keep this matter private but Max Miller’s increasingly erratic and dangerous behavior has made that impossible,” Moreno said in a lengthy post to X, the first time he has discussed his daughter’s divorce and the allegations against Miller in depth.
“As he has admitted privately, Max Miller needs serious psychological help,” Moreno continued. “He is a danger to my daughter, and I hold my breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter.”
The senator said in the post, “If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them.”
“He should not serve in the House of Representatives,” Moreno said. “I believe Max Miller needs to seek professional help to end the clear pattern of abuse he has left in his wake. I believe he should not be free to continue endangering others until he does.”
Miller’s office did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment on Moreno’s post. Miller, though, responded on X to Moreno’s post, writing, “If my daughter said the same thing to me, I personally wouldn’t wait two years before holding him accountable.”
“You know this isn’t true and the only reason you are speaking out now is to hide from your own media circus,” he said. “This is all political.”
The senator’s post comes after Miller, R-Ohio, said in a livestream Saturday that he would not drop his re-election bid and vigorously denied allegations that he abused his ex-wife.
“I’m not getting out of this race, and I’m winning in November, and I’ll be back in the 120th,” Miller said, referring to the 120th Congress.
Last month, the outlet Mother Jones detailed allegations of Miller behaving violently toward multiple women, being verbally abusive and having used drugs. The outlet said its report was based on more than 2,000 pages of court filings and police reports obtained through public records requests. Mother Jones reported that a spokesperson for Miller declined to respond to questions the outlet sent to his lawyers but pointed to Miller’s previous denials of violence against women.
Emily Moreno has accused Miller of throwing hot water on her, throwing her against a wall and holding a gun to her head, according to police reports. Their daughter has also suffered a broken collarbone and bruising, the cause of which was disputed but investigated by police in February 2026. He has denied the allegations and has not faced criminal charges related to her claims.
In the more than 15-minute livestream, Miller tried to dismiss his ex-wife’s claims, saying that she did not go to the hospital or police after an incident in which she alleged he physically assaulted her. He also pointed to their interactions over the following days.
“Ask yourself: If I had assaulted her, would she have offered to cook me dinner six days later?” he said. “Would she have invited me to spend an afternoon at the playground with her and our daughter? Would she have written that we were in a friendlier place?”
Miller also released a series of documents and audio recordings he said back up his claims.
Emily Moreno’s spokesperson Stefan Mychajliw said in a statement that it was “shameful that Max Miller decided to go on a bizarre and lie-filled rant about his ex-wife to desperately try to save his political career.”
“There is a documented trove of evidence that Miller has a history of violent and dangerous behavior and no amount of victim shaming will change that,” Mychajliw said. “It is despicable and abhorrent that Miller lied on an unhinged and humiliating video for their daughter to watch one day.”
Mychajliw said that Moreno is “confident that justice will prevail in court.”
Emily Moreno’s lawyer Subodh Chandra added in a statement, “When adverse parties in litigation are setting themselves on fire, I do not provide them with a fire extinguisher.”
Miller sued Emily Moreno this year, alleging defamation.
In 2021, Miller filed a defamation lawsuit against former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham after she alleged that a White House staffer physically abused her. She did not initially use Miller’s name, but he identified himself in the lawsuit. Grisham alleged that her boyfriend at the time was violent with her. Miller voluntarily dropped the lawsuit in 2023.
This year, Grisham sued Miller, alleging that he broke the nondisclosure agreement signed after he sued her.
