In new videos obtained by police, the ex-wife of Ohio Republican Representative Max Miller emotionally recounts the allegations of abuse against him, including an episode in which, according to her, he pointed a gun in her direction. Miller, in separate statements to authorities, rejects the abuse allegations, describes his ex-wife as manipulative and says she faces mental health issues.
The videos, part of several recordings obtained by CNN via a request for access to public information, bring new elements about the bitter legal battle that now involves a dispute over custody of the children, a defamation lawsuit and a restraining order between Miller and his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, daughter of Republican senator Bernie Moreno, also from Ohio.
The recently released recordings correspond to an interview that Emily Moreno gave to police in Bay Village, Ohio, in February, while investigators were investigating how the couple’s two-year-old daughter, from her relationship with Miller, suffered a broken collarbone.
No formal charges have been filed by prosecutors in connection with the girl’s injuries, and the police department told CNN that there are no other ongoing investigations involving Miller or Moreno.
Although police obscured her face in the recording, Moreno can be heard crying as she recounts the alleged gun incident and how Miller allegedly threw her against a wall during a custody exchange earlier this year.
In a long interview given to CNN cameras, Miller reaffirmed his denial of having committed any abuse against his ex-wife and classified the allegation that he had pointed a gun at her as a complete fabrication.
“I’m fighting to clear my name,” he declared. “And the truth will come out.”
Moreno did not give an interview to CNN. Her lawyer, Andrew Zashin, reported in a statement that the court issued a restraining order against both parties and that Emily will comply with it.
After the police statements in February, Moreno expanded the accusations of abuse in the context of the child custody dispute, with statements in court documents and statements that the congressman had thrown hot water on her during the marriage. After these reports hit the media, Miller filed a defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife and her lawyer.
Last week, a judge ordered a restraining order against Moreno and Miller, which prevents them from threatening, abusing, harassing or interfering with each other, as well as other limitations.
The intense family dispute takes place in the context of pro-MAGA politics in Ohio and has become a central theme in Miller’s re-election campaign, in a district considered a Republican stronghold. Although Miller won the primary without an opponent on May 5, he will face Democrat Brian Poindexter, a union-affiliated steelworker, in November.
“It’s not going to affect my chances of re-election,” Miller told CNN. “I’ll still talk to anyone who wants to talk to me. I’m not here running away.”
The police video recordings, which obscure the faces of Miller and Moreno but include audio of their statements, shed light on some of the allegations of abuse that have marked the child custody dispute and show Moreno and Miller describing the troubled relationship in their own words.
Moreno and Miller, who served as a senior adviser to President Donald Trump in his first term, married in 2022 in a ceremony at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and filed for divorce two years later. The divorce was finalized in a settlement in 2025.
Police opened an investigation into possible child abuse in February after the couple’s young daughter suffered a collarbone injury. According to the police report obtained by CNN, officers consulted a child protection specialist who knew the family’s situation.
In her statement to police, Moreno told authorities that her fear of Miller led her to leave the marriage.
“I was very afraid of him, and that’s why I left home and moved,” Moreno said.
During the interview, Moreno recounted two specific incidents, including a New Year’s Eve encounter in which she alleged Miller pointed a gun at her while changing the couple’s young daughter’s diaper.
“I was changing the baby’s diaper and I couldn’t do it with the lights off. So I had to turn the light on, and that made him upset,” she said.
She said Miller yelled at her.
“So when does the gun come into play?” the officer asked.
“When I’m changing,” Moreno replied.
“And what does he do?”
“He holds me back,” Moreno said.
When the officer asked Moreno if she could indicate where Miller had pointed the gun, she began to cry. A police report released indicated that the gun had been pointed at her head.
Moreno told police that although she told her therapist about the incident, she did not report it to authorities at the time because she was afraid no one would believe her.
When the police asked her during questioning if she still wanted to file a complaint, she refused.
Miller, in an interview with CNN, stated that the incident never occurred and that he keeps his weapons in a locked safe.
“I don’t have any weapons easily accessible at home. All my weapons are locked,” he declared.
In his statement to the police, Moreno said that, after the birth of his daughter, his relationship with Miller worsened and that he became angry when the baby cried.
She reported to police that Miller rarely wanted to spend time with her and the baby, saying he often locked himself in his room. Moreno stated that he never saw him being abusive towards the child.
Miller denied the characterization that she wasn’t involved with her family, telling CNN that it’s sad to have a young woman who actually suffers from a mental illness, and that people continue to cover for her and give her a voice when what she needs is to seek help. In her statement to police in February, Miller said of Moreno that she has a history of and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder a long time ago.
Moreno’s lawyer denied that she has a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. In a statement to CNN, his spokesperson said Miller is making accusations without evidence.
At the request of police officers, Moreno also described another incident in which she was allegedly assaulted by Miller in February.
Moreno, who at the time lived separately from Miller, said that when she arrived at his house to take the child to a birthday party in the afternoon, her daughter was still in her pajamas. Moreno stated that Miller became angry because she was taking up the time he was spending with his daughter and that he threw her against the wall, causing her to fall to the floor.
After the incident, Moreno said she and her daughter went to the birthday party.
Moreno also detailed the allegation during a court hearing last month, telling the court that when she arrived at the house, she and Max were talking about his anger over the birthday party and the pick-up times, which were different, and that was when he attacked, pushed and threw her to the floor.
Miller denied this allegation. In the CNN interview, he said Moreno sent him text messages over the next few days, inviting him to lunch and other social gatherings. He shared screenshots of these messages. He also mentioned a Ring camera video he posted online, which he said was from the day of the incident and showed Moreno leaving the house without incident.
Asked at the court hearing about the video and whether she agreed that she had not shown signs of distress, Moreno replied that, with all due respect, the person has no idea what is going on in her head.
During the February interrogations, police did not ask Miller to directly respond to Moreno’s allegations of abuse, although Miller and his lawyers returned weeks later to speak with police and allege that Moreno made false statements.
CNN’s analysis of court documents and police records shows that the legal dispute between Moreno and Miller intensified in the months following the February police investigation into their daughter’s injury.
On February 27, Miller requested and obtained an order of protection, claiming he felt harassed and that she was controlling his schedule.
On March 5, Moreno filed a request to reopen the custody agreement, alleging that Miller had exhibited dangerous physical behavior around his daughter; in late April, she requested a restraining order against Miller.
In May, Miller filed a defamation lawsuit against Moreno, alleging the considerable financial and reputational damage he said she caused him by making allegations of abuse.
(This is not Miller’s first defamation lawsuit against a former partner; he previously sued former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, an ex-girlfriend, for defamation after she accused him of abuse. He later voluntarily dropped the suit.)
In the course of these legal battles, Moreno further detailed the allegations of abuse. As part of his response to Miller’s defamation lawsuit, Moreno alleged in court documents that in June 2024, before the divorce, Miller took hot water from a pan in which he had just cooked eggs and threw it at me.
“In shock, I fell to the floor and lay there in the fetal position. Deputy Miller grabbed the spray bottle from the sink and continued to spray me with hot water,” Moreno said.
In court documents, she described what happened as extremely disturbing and said it was one of the last nails in the marriage. She later claimed that Miller handwrote her a letter in which she said he had failed to protect her.
Miller disputes the accusation of having thrown hot water on her, classifying what happened in an interview with CNN as a complete fabrication. He said the handwritten letter referred to a political dispute with her father, not the alleged incident.
Moreno included a photo of the letter in the 110-page lawsuit, as well as photos taken of his arm, neck and abdomen showing red marks after the alleged incident. Miller also disputed that these marks were the result of a water burn, suggesting in the CNN interview that they could have been caused by a sunburn.
Miller also shared with media outlets, including CNN, audio he recorded of part of a conversation with his ex-wife in August 2024, in which she claims Miller never physically assaulted her, but hurt her mentally and emotionally. Another audio recording shared by Miller includes Moreno acknowledging that she had previously been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but stating that more recently, her therapist determined that she did not have the disorder. In that same recording, Miller appears to admit to throwing water on Moreno, although he argues that he was joking, that he did not intend to hurt her, and denies that the water was hot enough to burn her.
In a statement to CNN, Moreno’s spokesperson criticized Miller for admitting he secretly recorded family members and releasing the recordings for political gain.
Miller’s defamation lawsuit is ongoing.
Moreno’s lawyers asked a judge to quickly dismiss the defamation suit.
