Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) dropped a domestic violence case against his ex-wife amid growing backlash over allegations he scalded her with hot water and held a gun to her head.
A Cuyahoga County judge formally dismissed the case Wednesday against Emily Moreno, daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), after Miller moved to drop it in May.
Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court Judge Debra Boros found Miller had not actually been harmed — or ever feared Emily Moreno.
“The Judge finds that Petitioner’s [Miller’s] Counsel was able to inform the reasons for seeking relief, that Petitioner was not under any apparent infirmity and did not appear to have been threatened by or in fear of Respondent [Moreno],” the New York Post reported, citing the ruling.
Miller, who President Donald Trump has endorsed, claimed in court that doorbell camera footage proved his account of a February 2025 custody exchange.
His own team later told Emily Moreno’s lawyers the footage did not exist, the New York Times reported.
At a July 28 court hearing, Miller’s own attorney, Larry Zuckerman, acknowledged his client “just can’t control himself,” according to an affidavit Emily Moreno filed Wednesday.
The Times detailed Emily Moreno’s accusations — that Miller scalded her chest and stomach by throwing hot water from a skillet, held a gun to her head, pushed her into a wall, and fractured their 2-year-old daughter’s collarbone. Miller has denied every allegation.
Also Wednesday, Emily Moreno filed for a restraining order to keep Miller away from her attorneys after he physically touched her lawyer Andrew Zashin without consent.
In an affidavit filed the same day, Emily Moreno wrote that she intervened directly.
“After Plaintiff placed his hands on Attorney Andrew Zashin, I told Plaintiff, ‘Get your hands off of him,’” she wrote.
New attention to the case has resulted in fresh condemnation of Miller and calls for him to resign.
“Congress is no place for violent abusers who attack their family and hold a gun to their wife’s head. Max Miller needs to resign now — and if he refuses, the House should expel him,” Giffords Executive Director Emma Brown said, as the gun violence prevention group founded by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords demanded Miller’s resignation Wednesday.
“The recent reports of domestic violence and child abuse against Representative Max Miller are deeply disturbing, and Congress can’t ignore them,” Democratic Women’s Caucus Chair Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) and Vice Chairs Emilia Sykes (D-OH) and Hillary Scholten (D-MI) said in a joint statement calling on the U.S. House Ethics Committee to investigate.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) called the allegations “troubling accusations” at the Ohio State Fair but said voters should decide. Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH) said colleagues on her side of the aisle had stepped down over less, News5Cleveland reported.
Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham also accused Miller of physical abuse during their 2019 and 2020 relationship, the Times reported.
Miller sued Grisham for defamation, then dropped the case and settled — requiring both to sign a nondisclosure agreement, a legal contract barring them from discussing the matter publicly. Grisham is now suing Miller, claiming he broke that agreement by publicly denying her allegations.
Earlier this year, President Trump gave Miller his “Complete and Total Endorsement” even as abuse allegations were hanging over the lawmaker’s head. The Times reported Trump’s own political operation is privately alarmed about Miller’s seat, viewing his troubles as ones of his own making.
Democratic challenger Brian Poindexter, a union ironworker, led Miller by 17 points among independents in a June 2026 poll by Democratic firm GBAO, according to Newsweek — in a district Trump won by 11 points in 2024.
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