Max Miller Claims He Never Held His Toddler’s Stuffed Bunny Hostage — Leaked Texts Show Otherwise

Rep. Max Miller’s (R-Ohio) insistence that he never used his daughter’s favorite toy as a manipulation tactic is being undercut by text messages from his divorce and custody battle with ex-wife Emily Moreno made public this week.

Miller has taken on a public offensive since allegations he physically and emotionally abused both his ex-wife and daughter led to calls for him to end his reelection campaign by members of his own party, along with a House Ethics Committee investigation which was launched on Tuesday.

One particular abuse allegation hinges on Miller repeatedly holding his daughter’s stuffed, blue bunny rabbit hostage, claims he was confronted with in a 23-minute CNN interview on Tuesday.

Anchor Jake Tapper asked Miller if there was any validity to his ex-wife and her father, fellow Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno’s, stories about the 2-year-old’s comfort object, telling him if true it “sounds like emotionally abusive behavior toward a toddler.”

After offering an evasive “no,” Miller afterward took to X to accuse his former father-in-law of lying, citing text messages from a dispute where he refused to hand over the toy to a friend of the family instead of Sen. Moreno himself.

“Sending Jared over to my home as a conduit was a bad idea,” Miller wrote in a screenshot dated Aug. 3.

Addressing his ex-father-in-law in the X post, Miller said it was “inappropriate” for the third-party “to insert himself in family business” and that he had only agreed to do the exchange with the senator.

“My daughter got her bunny back in 14 hours, no thanks to you,” the congressman wrote. “Glad this made national news though.”

Just hours later, however, Miller’s story was muddied by more context revealed in texts published by Mother Jones reporter Abby Vesoulis on X.

In a screenshot from an unknown date, Miller and Moreno’s parenting coordinator said he “adamantly refuses” to find a solution, like leaving the bunny in his mailbox for a no-contact swap.

Emails and text messages published by Mother Jones on Thursday then seemed to illustrate a year-plus pattern of using the toy as emotional leverage in the high-conflict custody battle.

In records spanning from March 2025 to this past May, Moreno, her father and her lawyer repeatedly ask Miller about the bunny.

“Max, Can [redacted] please have her bunny back? She’s had it since birth, sleeps with it every night, carries it with her around the house,” Moreno pleads in a March 2025 email. “Please don’t punish [redacted] if you’re upset with me.”

In addition to emotional abuse, Miller’s ex-wife has accused him of holding a gun to her head, throwing hot cooking water at her and breaking their daughter’s collarbone. Miller has repeatedly refuted the claims and filed a defamation lawsuit against his ex in back in May.