Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) gave his most explicit condemnation of his former son-in-law — Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) — to reporters on Tuesday, raging that his daughter Emily Moreno, who has accused Miller of abusing her during their two year marriage, “lives in constant fear of this man.”
“She fears what this guy is capable of,” Moreno told a gaggle of reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday. “I hope you never have to understand what my daughter’s been through,” he added. “This is truly the seventh level of hell. This has been a horrific experience for my entire family.”
The comments were a continuation of Moreno’s response to Miller’s public battle against his ex-wife. On Sunday, the congressman livestreamed remarks denying the allegations made by Moreno, and insisting that he would remain in his race for reelection, despite unfavorable polling. Miller also released a tranche of documents purporting to contain evidence of his innocence. These included an audio recording in which he indirectly corroborated Moreno’s claims that he doused her with hot water, as well as an inappropriate image of the couple’s young daughter.
Emily Moreno, who has not yet commented publicly on the matter, responded by having her attorneys file a request for a response from her ex-husband and his lawyers. “The first time Miller shared the folder, it contained private images of Miller and Ms. Moreno’s daughter and left her name unredacted. At least one of those images could be considered Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) because the daughter’s genitals appear to be visible,” the filing said. Moreno’s attorneys noted that the folder had been viewed over 204,000 times within less than 24 hours.
Miller’s lawyer has admitted to releasing the sensitive photos, calling it a “completely unintentional and a mistake.”
Sen. Moreno also addressed the potential exposure of his granddaughter, and the violation of her privacy, to strangers online at the hands of her father. “When he went out and did what he did — including releasing photos of my granddaughter completely naked — now you have hundreds of thousands of psychotic human beings that have that. To say oops is grotesque,” the senator said. “My personal opinion is that this is a felony, and that every single human being that touched that photo and transmitted it electronically should go to jail because it is illegal to do that.”
Around the same time on Tuesday, former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham — who previously dated Miller and accused him of slapping her and pushing her into walls — filed for a temporary restraining order against Miller, seeking to bar him from making public statements about her in relation to the allegations.
Miller announced on Tuesday that he is requesting the House Ethics Committee begin an investigation into his own conduct. “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 wrote. “We will be providing the committee all necessary documents needed for a [detailed] examination. The accusations continue to change, but my facts stay the same. I am looking forward to my colleagues reading everything for themselves.”
Outside of his former father-in-law, most of Miller’s colleagues remain silent about the matter, likely in deference to President Donald Trump’s declaration on Monday that Miller is a “good person,” and that he was “going to let the families figure that out.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has dismissed the accusations as unproven “allegations.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters on Tuesday that the matter was both a “House matter” and a “family matter.”
The deadline for Miller to withdraw from Ohio’s midterm ballot and for the party to select a replacement is Aug. 10, and while — according to a report from CBS News — some in the White House are privately pushing for a candidate swap, the runway may simply be running out.