Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno is calling for his former son-in-law and Trump-endorsed Rep. Max Miller to be jailed after Miller’s legal team allegedly released a nude photo of his 2-year-old daughter.
Miller, 43, shared a link Sunday to a folder containing hundreds of pages of documents that he said would clear his name of abuse allegations made by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, the senator’s daughter.
But among the documents was a photo of their daughter that could be considered “Child Sexual Abuse Material because the daughter’s genitals appear to be visible,” Moreno’s attorney alleged in a letter sent to Miller on Tuesday.
Subodh Chandra, Moreno’s attorney, claimed the photo garnered more than 200,000 views before it was taken down Monday afternoon. “We write to demand an explanation about how this occurred,” the letter, obtained by the New York Times, reads.
Miller’s attorney later took responsibility for the accidental release of the photograph, as well as for including documents in which their daughter’s name was left unredacted.
Miller’s attorney, Aaron Minc, said he was “the only person responsible for assembling, creating, reviewing, adding, deleting, redacting, or making any changes to the information and files that were in this folder,” in a statement obtained by Punchbowl News.
Minc added that he was “truly sorry to Congressman Miller, Ms. Moreno, both of their families, and, especially, to their daughter.” Spokespersons for Moreno and Miller did not respond to a request for comment.
Hours later on Capitol Hill, Bernie Moreno did not appear satisfied with that explanation. He told reporters the alleged slip-up should be considered a “felony.”
“He went out and did what he did, including releasing photos of my granddaughter completely naked, that now you have hundreds of 1000s of psychotic human beings that have that, and to say ‘oops’ is grotesque,” the Ohio senator said on Capitol Hill.
“My personal opinion is that this is a felony, and that every single human being that touched that photo and transmitted it electronically should go to jail because it is illegal to do that,” he said, referring to his family’s ordeal with Miller as “brutal, beyond comprehension.”
This is just the latest escalation between the Ohio Republicans after a bitter custody battle between Miller and Emily Moreno publicized her allegations against him. Among other things, Emily Moreno has testified that Miller poured hot water on her, beat her, pointed a gun at her head, and may have broken their toddler’s collarbone.
On Sunday, Moreno broke his silence on Miller in an emotional post on X, calling for Miller to be removed from Congress and alleging he fails the “basic standards of character” required to hold elected office.
“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 MAGA Republican, who had largely avoided speaking publicly about his daughter’s divorce and the abuse allegations, wrote.
When asked Monday by reporters why he waited to speak out, the senator replied, “I hope you never have to go through this situation, because you wouldn’t ask that kind of f--king question.”
“Look guys, this is about my personal family situation,” the Ohio senator added. “It’s pretty grotesque.”
Miller, a White House staffer during Trump’s first term, has defiantly refused to drop out of his reelection race. While the president has not publicly condemned his former aide, he has reportedly expressed doubts about Miller’s reelectability, with polls showing him trailing his Democratic opponent in the once-reliably red district.
But not even a nudge from Trump has prompted Miller to resign. Instead, he has taken the unusual step of requesting a House Ethics Committee investigation into himself.
Miller wrote in an X post Tuesday that he would file paperwork with the House Ethics Committee “to clear my name from these horrific attacks on myself and family.
“I have absolutely nothing to hide,” Miller, 43, wrote.
This isn’t the first time Miller has been accused of domestic violence. Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who accused him of pushing her and slapping her across the face when she confronted him about cheating, filed for a restraining order against the congressman Monday.
Miller had vehemently denied the allegations and sued her for defamation over a book she published. The details of their eventual settlement are not public.
