Senator Bernie Moreno, Republican of Ohio, broke his silence on Sunday about a yearslong family drama involving domestic abuse allegations against his former son-in-law, Representative Max Miller of Ohio, saying in an emotional statement that Mr. Miller was not fit to hold public office.
Mr. Moreno, saying the dispute had put his family through “pure hell,” scathingly denounced Mr. Miller, whose ex-wife, Emily Moreno, has accused him of abusing her and their 2-year-old daughter.
“If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them,” Mr. Moreno wrote in a post on X. He added: “I hold my breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter.”
He continued: “He should not serve in the House of Representatives. I believe Max Miller needs to seek professional help to end the clear pattern of abuse he has left in his wake. I believe he should not be free to continue endangering others until he does.”
The senator issued his statement in reaction to an earlier, defiant livestream on Sunday by Mr. Miller, who is seeking re-election. He denied the accusations and vowed that he was “not getting out of this race.” Mr. Miller is running in a tight race in what had been a safe seat for Republicans before the allegations became public. Mr. Moreno’s statement, his first on the issue, seems likely to further damage Mr. Miller’s campaign, a source of concern for Republicans nationally even as they have largely maintained public silence. The wrenching public back-and-forth came just three days before the deadline for Republicans to replace Mr. Miller on the ballot — or risk locking him in as the G.O.P. nominee for a seat that has become competitive in large part because of the allegations against him. Mr. Miller appears just one percentage point ahead of his Democratic challenger, according to internal polling research by Democrats, in a district that President Trump won by double digits in 2024.
Until now, Republicans across the board have chosen not to denounce Mr. Miller or call for his resignation, dismissing the charges against him as mere “allegations.” It was not clear on Sunday how Mr. Moreno’s weighing in would shift the response from other Republicans.
In a roughly 20-minute livestream, Mr. Miller categorically denied all the accusations that Ms. Moreno has leveled at him in court. He also claimed that she had “significant mental health challenges,” without offering any evidence.
Mr. Miller said he had never scalded Ms. Moreno’s chest and stomach by throwing hot water from a skillet at her body, as she has accused him, dismissing the incident as “horseplay in our kitchen” with water that was not boiling.
He also denied her accusation that he held a gun to her head, and he vehemently rejected her charge that he had fractured their daughter’s collarbone and bruised her shoulder.
Mr. Miller, a former staff member for Mr. Trump, blamed his daughter’s injuries on two day care workers.
“If these accusations were true, I would be in jail,” Mr. Miller said, seated in his kitchen and reading haltingly from a script. He contended that the credibility of her assertions was undermined by the fact that he still retains joint custody after years of court battles.
In his livestream, Mr. Miller repeatedly pointed to examples of what he claimed were friendly overtures from Ms. Moreno as proof that she was fabricating the claims of abuse. “If I had assaulted her, would she have offered to cook me dinner six days later?” he asked.
Ms. Moreno is seeking to end their shared parenting agreement. The issue is expected to go to court on Nov. 5. Last week, Ms. Moreno filed a restraining order against Mr. Miller, claiming he had harassed and threatened her lawyers.
Immediately after his livestream, Mr. Miller made public a trove of recordings, text message exchanges and court documents that he said would prove his innocence. A lawyer for Ms. Moreno did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Amid the broad silence from Republicans, Democrats have called for a House Ethics Committee investigation into the allegations against Mr. Miller. Speaker Mike Johnson has said only that there is an ethics process for handling with such accusations. He did not respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, defended Mr. Miller in a recent interview. “This is a family matter. I know Max is a good man,” he told CNN. “I hope he wins re-election.”
Behind the scenes, however, Republicans in Mr. Trump’s orbit have said they are alarmed by Mr. Miller’s decision to go on the offense against Ms. Moreno and are concerned about his re-election campaign.
Mr. Miller, however, expressed deep confidence on Sunday that he would be back in Congress next year.
“This election to me is about my family and about our daughter and keeping our values here and holding the media and other individuals accountable,” he said.
Ms. Moreno is not the first woman to level domestic abuse allegations against Mr. Miller. In her memoir, Stephanie Grisham, the former White House press secretary, wrote that she dated someone in the administration who was physically abusive. She later acknowledged that she had been referring to Mr. Miller.
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