Records Detail New Allegations Against Rep. Max Miller – Mother Jones

In mid-March, two detectives, an Ohio county Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) caseworker, and a Cleveland Clinic doctor met on Zoom to debate how the 2-year-old daughter of a congressman and granddaughter of a US senator wound up with a damaged collarbone.

“The bruising surrounding the clavicle fracture made the injury suspicious,” wrote one of many detectives who summarized the Zoom assembly. Further, somebody on the decision “advised the injury would have required a high degree of impact to occur.”

Neither the kid’s father, Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), nor mom, conservative coverage adviser Emily Moreno, admitted to understanding what precipitated their daughter’s harm or that it occurred whereas their daughter was below their care. Miller’s main idea was that the bruising resembled marks from a seat belt. Moreno, who found the bruises and took the kid to an emergency room, urged the trigger might have been one thing extra sinister. Records of the investigation into potential baby abuse present that Moreno instructed detectives that Miller had beforehand thrown scorching water at her, shoved her, and held a gun to her head; subsequently, she couldn’t rule out that Miller precipitated their daughter’s fracture. Moreover, a baby safety specialist reviewing the incident had characterised the bruising close to the fracture as resembling a “handprint.”

“Daddy’s house is scary,” Moreno recounted her daughter saying, in keeping with a Bay Village, Ohio, investigative report referring to the February 2026 harm.

The abstract of the Zoom assembly and investigative report are amongst greater than 2,000 pages of courtroom filings and police studies pertaining to Miller that Mother Jones obtained by means of public information requests. The trove of paperwork comprises allegations of drug use by Miller, misogyny and verbal abuse, and violent conduct in opposition to a number of girls. The filings additionally embrace proof that Miller implicitly threatened his ex-father-in-law, Sen. Bernie Moreno.

Some of the accusations contained within the information haven’t been conclusively confirmed by a courtroom or regulation enforcement company, and it’s potential they by no means will likely be. Cuyahoga County’s DCFS investigation into potential baby abuse was “unsubstantiated”—that’s, there was not sufficient proof to assist a discovering of neglect or abuse. Additionally, Emily Moreno by no means filed a police report in opposition to Miller for hurt she says he inflicted on her; she instructed a detective investigating the collarbone fracture that she feared “no one would believe her.” Still, the information pose troubling questions concerning the conduct of a sitting lawmaker, and his ongoing and more and more bitter authorized battle together with his ex-wife might complicate his reelection bid.

Throughout the authorized filings, Moreno alleges that Miller was an absentee father and abusive husband whose historical past of violence and misconduct dates again greater than a decade. Some of the accusations she raised are beforehand unreported, and Mother Jones has additionally recognized new particulars about incidents which have already grow to be public.

Responding to written questions from Moreno’s lawyer about whether or not Miller threw a woman down the steps in highschool, confronted expulsion from school for a violent incident involving a feminine pupil, and left Moreno inside three days of their baby’s delivery, Miller—over the course of the home proceedings—neither confirmed nor denied the occasions passed off.

In home filings from May, Miller’s lawyer responded to those accusations: “Objection; relevance, scope of admissible evidence.”

Through spokesperson Chris Vlasto, Miller declined to reply to any of the detailed questions Mother Jones despatched to his legal professionals. Vlasto pointed to statements made to different information shops by which Miller and his representatives denied Miller had dedicated violence in opposition to girls, although none of his earlier interviews deal with among the new points raised by Mother Jones.

For his half, Miller’s filings recommend he’s anxious the accusations of home abuse and impropriety might hurt his political marketing campaign. According to a defamation lawsuit he filed in opposition to his ex-wife in May, Miller accuses Moreno of making an attempt to “malign his character” and “undermine his odds at re-election to Congress.”

In a movement for dismissal of the defamation case later that month, Moreno accused Miller of making an attempt to “silence a woman who has information about his misdeeds.”

Miller, 37, represents Ohio’s seventh District, a protracted, skinny area of Northeast Ohio that spans from the shore of Lake Erie all the best way right down to Amish nation in Holmes County. He was first elected to Congress in November 2022, after serving as a senior White House aide within the first Trump administration. Miller married Moreno only a few months earlier than his election. The wedding ceremony passed off on the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, the place Donald Trump himself gave a celebratory speech. (Miller filed for divorce from Moreno precisely two years later, in August 2024.)

It took only a few years for Miller to rise from a low-level political aide to nabbing an early Trump endorsement to take the seat of a Republican incumbent, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez. A cousin, Eli Miller, had helped Max Miller get a small position on then-Sen. Marco Rubio’s ill-fated presidential marketing campaign. After Rubio dropped out of the crowded Republican discipline, the 2 cousins each joined the 2016 Trump marketing campaign.

At the time, his résumé was skinny. After graduating from Cleveland State University three years earlier with a historical past diploma, having briefly attended the University of Arizona beforehand, he joined the Marine Reserves. His earlier work expertise included a stint at Lululemon. But Trump shortly took a liking to the political neophyte. After the 2016 election, Miller served as director of Trump’s advance staff, affiliate director of the Presidential Personnel Office, and ultimately, deputy marketing campaign supervisor for presidential operations. It was within the aftermath of the 2020 marketing campaign cycle that Miller received his greatest alternative but.

When Trump was seeking to oust Gonzalez for backing his impeachment over the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, Miller was a straightforward choose to exchange him. “Max, great guy, I can tell you,” Trump stated whereas introducing him at a July 2021 political rally 40 miles south of Cleveland. “He’s a great guy.”

Such was the headline of a 2021 profile of Miller that painted an image of a younger candidate with a troubled previous. In the sprawling story revealed by Politico, journalist Michael Kruse interviewed greater than 60 individuals and scoured courtroom paperwork and police information from Miller’s adolescence and early 20s.

In 2007, Miller was arrested for reportedly punching a man behind the pinnacle and working from police. Still in highschool on the time, Miller pleaded no contest to the costs; the case was dismissed after which sealed, each Politico and the Washington Post reported.

Just a few years later, in 2010, Miller was cited for breaking a window at an residence constructing in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, after getting right into a “verbal altercation” with individuals he didn’t know at a hookah bar. “Miller said rather than striking a person, he hit the door and his hand went through the glass which cut his wrist,” says the police report obtained by Mother Jones. He required quick surgical procedure for his harm, the doc says.

In April 2011, he was charged with working a automobile whereas intoxicated after crashing into a light-weight pole at Miami University of Ohio. Upon questioning, Miller reported to police that he had consumed “two to three beers and several shots” the night time earlier than after which “woke up in urine.”

Records from Miami University police concluded that Miller’s blood alcohol content material was below the authorized restrict, and he pleaded right down to a misdemeanor for failing to manage the automotive. “A blood test conclusively established that Mr. Miller was not impaired,” Miller’s legal professional instructed Politico on the time.

However, Mother Jones has obtained additional toxicology studies from the incident stating that Miller had MDMA—often known as ecstasy—and Klonopin in his system on the time of the crash.

That 2011 episode is the final time Miller is understood to have been charged with against the law, not together with some minor driving and parking violations. But the cache of information level to different allegations of violence and misconduct that have been by no means reported to police. For occasion, certainly one of Moreno’s authorized filings of their ongoing baby custody case requested Miller to touch upon the accusation that he pushed a feminine peer down a set of stairs throughout his highschool years.

“Why did you not pursue a defamation lawsuit against [redacted] for alleging you pushed her down a flight of stairs?”

Miller’s response: “OBJECTION; relevance, scope of admissible evidence.”

According to Politico’s 2021 report, “Miller pushed a girl out the door of his room and she fell down some stairs after he became enraged when she resisted his attempts to touch her, according to three people who were there and many more who heard about the incident in the aftermath.”

Miller categorically denied to Politico that the altercation passed off. But reached for remark this month, the girl in query instructed Mother Jones that whereas the occasion “happened 20 years ago,” it stays “one of the more traumatic nights of my life.”

Moreno’s legal professionals introduced up the alleged incident in a set of interrogatories: formal, written questions used within the discovery section of a lawsuit. The named events within the case should reply honestly, below penalty of perjury, although their counsel can advise them to object to the query reasonably than present a solution. Objecting doesn’t indicate culpability.

In his May submitting, Miller denied among the different allegations outright. For instance:

“Admit that from January 1, 2025 to present you have consumed/used illegal drugs.”

Miller’s response: “DENY.”

“Admit that you were escorted out of a Marriott on October 30, 2025 after the Annual Red Mass.”

Miller’s response: “DENY.”

Among the accusations Miller didn’t explicitly deny within the authorized doc, Moreno accused her ex-husband of constructing a misogynistic remark about her physique and being expelled from school over violence in opposition to a lady.

“Admit that you referred to the childbirth of your daughter as ‘setting your playground on fire.’”

Miller’s response: “Objection, relevance, scope of admissible evidence.”

“Why did you tell Defendant that you would not be present during the delivery of your minor child?”

Miller’s response: “OBJECTION; relevance, scope of admissible evidence.”

“Why did you leave Defendant and the minor child within seventy-two (72) hours of the minor child’s birth?”

Miller’s response: “OBJECTION; relevance, scope of admissible evidence.”

“Admit that you were expelled from college for an incident involving violence with a female student.”

Miller’s response: “Objection, relevance, scope of admissible evidence.”

In a quote from a June interview with the New York Post, Miller partially responded to the final declare.

“That’s absolutely ridiculous. I can prove to you that I’ve never been expelled from any college,” Miller stated. “The only reason why we didn’t answer the question is because we don’t have to answer any question before December 18 of 2025 in court.”

Miller was referring to the admissible discovery interval. In a May courtroom submitting, Miller claimed the decide acknowledged from the bench that any admissible proof must be from December 18, 2025, onward. Miller’s May submitting additionally requested the decide to problem a proper ruling to make clear the closing date and cease Moreno from utilizing discovery to “harass” Miller.

“Plaintiff is currently campaigning for reelection,” Miller’s movement stated. “Defendant is using this litigation to attempt to torpedo Plaintiff’s political career.”

Still, nothing legally precluded Miller from denying allegations that will have taken place earlier than December 2025 within the courtroom filings, together with the accusation of violence in opposition to a lady in school. In some circumstances, Miller each objected to the relevancy or admissibility of a declare and concurrently denied it.

“Admit that you were physically and emotionally abusive to Defendant during your marriage.”

Miller’s response: “Objection, relevance; otherwise, without waiving, DENY.”

“Please state if you have ever been indicted of any crime.”

Miller’s response: “OBJECTION; scope of admissible evidence. Without waiving any objection: never.”

Before publishing this story, Mother Jones once more emailed Miller’s legal professionals and spokesperson to request the congressman straight deal with the next query: “As a college student, were you ever involved in a physical or violent altercation involving a female student?”

Miller’s spokesperson replied, “We won’t be responding.”

Nor did the spokesperson reply to questions concerning the toxicology report that Mother Jones obtained or about an obvious risk Miller made by textual content to his former father-in-law, Sen. Bernie Moreno, which is documented in courtroom filings.

“I’m sick of this, you know I never hurt our daughter. Take this however you want, everyone is going to get to know you better than your wife does,” Miller wrote to Bernie Moreno, in keeping with an exhibit referenced in Emily Moreno’s movement for a restraining order. “Enjoy the ride brother, I wouldn’t have to do this if you could keep your lying daughter under control.”

Bernie Moreno’s workplace acknowledged receiving questions from Mother Jones however didn’t present remark. Through her lawyer, Emily Moreno declined to remark.

In a separate submitting from May, Miller was additionally accused of constructing misogynistic feedback about Moreno’s legal professional. He allegedly stated the lawyer’s fiancée was “not much of a looker” and he might discover numerous girls like her “on a street corner for $10.” According to the submitting, Miller additionally shouted at Moreno’s legal professional, “Come at me!”

Moreno just isn’t the one girl who has publicly accused Miller of violence. Stephanie Grisham, a White House press secretary from Trump’s first time period, wrote in an October 2021 Washington Post excerpt of her ebook that Miller “got physical” along with her when the 2 have been courting in 2020.

Politico was extra particular in its July 2021 article, recounting—in keeping with three individuals aware of the incident—that Miller “pushed [Grisham] against a wall and slapped her in the face in his Washington apartment after she accused him of cheating on her.”

It sounded just like an occasion Moreno described to the Bay Village Police Department when DCFS was investigating their baby’s damaged collarbone, the police information present.

“She went to pick up [redacted] at home and [redacted] grabbed [redacted] and threw her against the wall, which resulted in an obvious grab mark on her upper arm and bruising to her stomach and side where she hit the wall,” a detective wrote in summarizing what Moreno stated.

In May, the Daily Mail revealed photographs of the alleged abuse in opposition to Moreno, which have been later included in courtroom filings. The footage depicted a bruise on Moreno’s arm and pink splotches on her chest that the outlet stated have been the results of two separate incidents: the one by which Miller allegedly pushed Moreno right into a wall and one other by which he allegedly threw scorching water at her. (Records present Moreno referenced each of those accusations in her police interview about their baby’s damaged collarbone.)

The Daily Mail additionally referenced a handwritten letter that Miller allegedly despatched to Moreno after the water incident, which Moreno says passed off in June 2024. “I don’t know what to do. I do know you love me, protect me, and care for me. I failed to do that for you,” Miller wrote, in keeping with an image of the letter in courtroom filings. “It’s eating me alive. I love you even if you think I don’t. I love you so much. I’m so sorry. I’m just a fuck up and worthless.” Miller’s spokesperson, Vlasto, instructed the New York Post that the apology letter as a substitute “relates to an argument between Congressman Miller and Emily Moreno’s father.”

Miller sued each Moreno and Grisham for defamation. In an October 2021 case, he contended that Grisham’s ebook excerpt is “replete with libelous and defamatory false statements” about him, together with that he was violent towards her. He subsequently withdrew the lawsuit in 2023 after the pair settled their case.

About every week after the Daily Mail article, Miller additionally sued Moreno for defamation, alleging that she leaked info to the Daily Mail for the aim of undermining his congressional marketing campaign. (In courtroom filings, Moreno denied talking to the tabloid or urging anybody to take action on her behalf.)

In making an attempt to defend his character after the Daily Mail article was revealed, Miller uploaded to social media a voice recording of Moreno that he had taped in 2024. He wrote in an X submit that the recording proves “everything alleged by Stephanie Grisham was fabricated” and that he’s “never done anything to harm” Moreno.

This submit landed Miller in one other authorized battle. In a lawsuit Grisham filed final week associated to their 2021 case, Grisham says Miller broke the personal phrases of their settlement by disparaging her in public together with his X submit. Moreover, she says Miller’s abstract of his personal video recording just isn’t correct. In the 43-second clip, Moreno says “what Stephanie did to you is wrong.” Moreno doesn’t say within the recording that Grisham lied about being abused.

“At no point in the recording does Moreno claim or admit that ‘everything alleged by Stephanie Grisham was fabricated,’” Grisham’s July 7 lawsuit says.

Responding to the Daily Mail story, Miller additionally shared a separate voice recording of Moreno with the New York Post; a subsequent authorized submitting contained a transcript of the recording.

According to the transcript, Moreno is heard saying, “You poured steaming hot water on me, and you’ve also, you, uh, you have been insanely emotionally abusive.”

Miller first stated he “didn’t pour hot water on [her] neck.” He then stated, “The water incident…I never thought that that hurt you.”

“It was never done to hurt you with intent. It never was done to hurt you, and you know that,” Miller defined.

Here, too, Miller might have inadvertently shot himself within the foot. In response to Miller’s defamation case, Moreno’s lawyer claims that Miller’s audio is successfully an admission that he threw scorching water at Moreno.

“It is true or substantially true that Congressman Miller soaked her with hot water. Miller admits it in his own audio recording,” reads the supplemental submitting.

For now, the defamation-related circumstances involving Grisham and Moreno are ongoing. As is Miller’s bid for reelection—although a recent poll reveals he leads Democratic challenger Brian Poindexter by simply 1 %. Just a few weeks in the past, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report additionally downgraded Miller’s race from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican.”