Lawyers for Emily Moreno sought a restraining order against Ohio Rep. Max Miller on Thursday after saying the congressman harassed and threatened the legal team. The request adds a new legal step to a dispute that already includes domestic violence attorney claims, police reports and a separate defamation fight.
Emily Moreno is Miller’s ex-wife, and the two were married from 2022 to 2024. Police reports obtained by ABC News say she told officers that Miller threw her against the wall, leaving an obvious grab mark on her upper arm, and that he had previously held a gun to her head and threw hot water on her.
Emily Moreno and the police reports
Moreno also told police that her child said, “Daddy kill you.” She said her 2-year-old daughter received physical injuries while in Miller’s care. Miller has denied abusing his wife or daughter, and he was never charged with a crime.
The Department of Children and Family Services did not find evidence to substantiate child abuse allegations, according to records released in court filings. That leaves the restraining order request focused on the conduct Moreno’s lawyers say targeted the legal team, not on a new criminal charge.
Miller and Grisham
The dispute sits alongside Miller’s earlier legal fight with Stephanie Grisham. In 2023, Miller sued her for defamation while running for Congress after she identified him in a Washington Post op-ed as the partner she had described in her 2021 memoir.
Miller and Grisham later reached a confidential settlement, and Grisham is now suing Miller for violating those terms by discussing the case in his denials of Moreno’s allegations. Miller has argued in the defamation case that the accusations form “a repeated pattern” meant “to ruin my reputation, gain an edge in custody and litigation matters, and seek revenge.”
Ohio's 7th District
The case also lands while Miller represents Ohio's 7th District and seeks reelection in a seat described as safe Republican territory. Miller posted on X in May that Bernie Moreno continued to fund and enable his daughter’s campaign to ruin his life, and a spokesperson for Bernie Moreno said his top priority is the safety and well-being of his daughter and granddaughter.
For now, the practical question is how the court handles the restraining order request and what evidence it weighs from the police reports, the alleged threats, and the earlier custody dispute. Moreno’s lawyers have already pushed the fight from allegations about family conduct into a direct legal challenge over Miller’s contact with the people representing her.
