Rep. Max Miller’s ex-wife filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Wednesday against the Ohio Republican and his attorney, alleging that they “recklessly published” a nude image of Miller’s 2-year-old daughter online.
The claim stems from a live stream Miller hosted this month to defend himself against charges of domestic violence by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno. In an attempt to support his assertion that Moreno made up the allegations, Miller released a trove of documents through a publicly accessible Dropbox account.
In her lawsuit, Moreno says the folder included a picture of their daughter in which her genitalia was visible, and which remained available for anyone to download for 23 hours.
Miller’s lawyer, Aaron Minc, apologized the following day in an email, included in the lawsuit, writing that he inadvertently published an unedited version of the image and deleted it as soon as he found out. He later disputed the characterization that genitals were visible.
Moreno is seeking $150,000 in damages for each time the photo of her daughter was downloaded from the Dropbox account, which she says in the lawsuit was viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
“This child is an entirely innocent victim who has become collateral damage to her father’s political ambition,” Moreno’s attorney, Subodh Chandra, said in a statement.
Miller and Minc did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Following their divorce last year after three years of marriage, Moreno has alleged in court filings that Miller threw hot water on her from a pan of eggs he had just cooked, once held a gun to her head and hurt their daughter, who suffered a fractured collarbone in February. Miller has dismissed the accusations, which are now being investigated by the House Ethics Committee, as fabrications during a messy custody battle.
Some Republicans subsequently sought to pressure Miller, who represents a conservative House district stretching south from the Cleveland suburbs, to drop his bid for a third term. But Miller vowed to push ahead with his campaign, saying that he did not want his daughter to view him as “a quitter.”
National Democrats are now taking greater interest in the race, sensing an opportunity to flip what would have been a safe Republican seat. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the political arm for House Democrats, announced Tuesday that it is adding Miller’s challenger, Brian Poindexter, to its priority “Red to Blue” program.
The designation, which has been given to 30 other candidates seeking to flip GOP-held districts in November, opens up additional party resources, strategic guidance and fundraising support for Poindexter, a union ironworker and city council member in a Cleveland suburb.
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