WASHINGTON — Embattled Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, asked Tuesday that the House Ethics Committee investigate domestic abuse allegations made by his ex-wife — an unusual move to try to exonerate himself amid a messy custody battle that is playing out in public view.
“In light of all the renewed interest in my family affairs I am going to file my own paperwork for an ethics investigation into myself to clear my name from these horrific attacks on myself and family. I have absolutely nothing to hide,” Miller, who has vehemently denied the allegations, said on X.
“We will be providing the committee all necessary documents needed for a detail examination. The accusations continue to change, but my facts stay the same. I am looking forward to my colleagues reading everything for themselves,” he continued.
Rep. Miller vows to stay in re-election race amid abuse allegations
Hours later, the Ethics Committee said it had launched an investigation into whether Miller may have engaged in “domestic violence and abuse or illegal drug use in violation of the Code of Official Conduct.”
Miller denied multiple allegations in a livestream on X over the weekend, saying: “I have never abused our daughter. ... No court, no agency, has ever substantiated any allegation of abuse against me. No criminal charge has ever been filed against me.”
He also released several audio recordings and transcripts that he said proved his case. In one of them, Miller’s ex-wife, Emily Moreno, is identified as telling Miller that she believes he has a drug problem and that she had found needles by his bed — allegations he denied to her. Another transcript identifies Miller telling Moreno that he was injecting himself with testosterone.
A spokesperson for Moreno, Stefan Mychajliw, accused Miller of lying “about his ex-wife to desperately try to save his political career” in an earlier statement. “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.
An ethics investigation is likely to take weeks, if not months, to complete. The House is out on its August recess and will return in September.
But the fact that he made the request suggests Miller does not plan to drop out of his race for re-election, despite a declaration from his former father-in-law, Sen. Bernie Moreno, a fellow Ohio Republican, that he is not fit to serve in Congress.
Bernie Moreno issued a stunning statement this week saying Miller “needs serious psychological help” and is “a danger to my daughter” Emily Moreno, adding, “I hold my breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter.”
“If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them,” he added. “He should not serve in the House of Representatives.”
In the Capitol on Tuesday, Bernie Moreno became emotional as he told reporters about the toll the public feud with Miller has taken on his daughter, his granddaughter and his wife.
“This is truly the seventh level of hell. This has been a horrific experience for my entire family,” he said.
He said that his daughter lives in constant fear of Miller and that he met Miller at a police station Sunday to pick up his granddaughter.
So far, President Donald Trump is standing by Miller, though the allegations are unsettling for some congressional Republicans. Trump called the situation “a very sad thing” Monday and said Miller, a political ally, is a “good person.”
He said he wanted to let the families figure things out.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said the allegation that Miller engaged in domestic abuse is “none of my business.” But he added: “It just — it doesn’t help. Just gives people more one more reason to be disgusted with Congress.”
Lawmakers typically do not request Ethics Committee investigations into themselves, but it has happened before. In 2008, then-House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., asked the Ethics Committee to investigate allegations that he had improperly used congressional letterhead to rally support for an educational center named after him.
But the strategy backfired. After a two-year probe, the Ethics Committee found Rangel guilty of violating 11 House ethics rules, and he was censured by the full House. Rangel had to relinquish his powerful Ways and Means gavel in the process, and he did not seek re-election in 2016.
