An Ohio Republican congressman accused of hitting and threatening his ex-wife has decided that the best defense is a self-referral to the House Ethics Committee. Rep. Max Miller apparently believes that inviting Congress to look very closely at him is the move here. His ex-wife's father, who is also a sitting U.S. senator, responded by calling Miller a 'danger' to his own daughter.
The Setup, Which You Have to Hear in Full
Axios is reporting that Miller, a former Trump aide running a competitive reelection race in Ohio, announced Tuesday that he would file paperwork requesting an ethics investigation into himself. His stated reason: he has 'absolutely nothing to hide.' He posted this on X, because of course he did.
His ex-wife, Emily Moreno, has accused Miller in court filings of hitting and threatening her. Miller has denied the allegations and has filed a defamation suit against her. He also went on a Sunday livestream to announce, in case anyone was wondering, that he is 'not getting out of this race' and is 'winning in November.'
This is the part of the movie where the audience knows something the main character does not.
The Father-in-Law Situation Is Extraordinary
Emily Moreno's father is Sen. Bernie Moreno, Republican of Ohio. So the sitting senator whose party Miller belongs to is also the father of the woman Miller is accused of abusing and is currently suing for defamation. Family dinners must be something.
Shortly after Miller's self-referral announcement, Sen. Moreno put out a statement that did not wish his former son-in-law well. According to Axios, Moreno said that if 'there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them.' He also called Miller a 'danger' to his daughter.
A sitting U.S. senator is calling a member of Congress from his own state a danger to his own child, in an official statement, while that congressman is simultaneously filing paperwork to prove he's fine actually. This is the Republican Party of Ohio in the year 2026.
Trump Called But Did Not Exactly Endorse
President Trump, who has remained conspicuously non-committal on whether Miller should drop out, phoned the congressman Monday and reportedly expressed doubt about his candidacy, according to Axios reporters Alex Isenstadt and Marc Caputo. Trump has not publicly called on Miller to exit the race. He also has not publicly expressed confidence in it.
For a movement built entirely around personal loyalty to one man, the silence from that one man is pretty loud. Miller's entire political identity is as a Trump insider. He served in the Trump White House. He ran on that record. And right now the best he can say about where he stands with Trump is that the former president called him and expressed 'doubt.' That is not a ringing endorsement. That is a wellness check.
And Then There's Stephanie Grisham
Axios also reports that this is not Miller's first defamation rodeo. After former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham wrote a 2021 op-ed in The Washington Post about an abusive ex-boyfriend in the Trump administration, Miller sued her for defamation. The case was settled, with both parties agreeing to stop making disparaging public statements about each other.
Now, per Axios, Grisham's lawyers have filed for a temporary restraining order alleging Miller violated that settlement. The motion was filed Monday. So to recap: Miller is being sued for allegedly violating a defamation settlement he reached after he sued someone for writing an op-ed about abusive men, while simultaneously being accused of abuse by his ex-wife, whom he is also suing for defamation.
The legal Venn diagram here is genuinely hard to draw.
What the Ethics Self-Referral Actually Means
To be clear about what Miller is doing: the House Ethics Committee moves at a pace that would embarrass a glacier. Self-referrals are politically designed to let a member say 'I welcomed an investigation' without any certainty that anything will actually happen, or happen quickly enough to matter.
Miller told the committee he'd provide 'all necessary documents.' He told supporters he can't wait for his colleagues to read everything for themselves. This is either the confidence of a genuinely innocent man or the audacity of someone who has correctly calculated that the Ethics Committee will not resolve this before November. Either way, it is a very specific bet to be making.
The Dingo Take
You are supposed to believe that a man who has been accused of hitting his wife in court filings, who is being sued for allegedly violating a defamation settlement he reached after suing a woman who wrote about abusive men, and whose ex-father-in-law is publicly calling him a 'danger,' is best cleared of all suspicion by asking Congress to look into it. At a speed determined entirely by Congress.
This is the 'I have nothing to hide' theory of political survival, and it is mostly a stalling tactic with paperwork attached. Miller is betting that the Ethics Committee is slow, that Trump will eventually come around, and that Ohio voters will forget or forgive before they hit the ballot box. He may not be wrong about any of that. The last several years have not exactly vindicated the idea that allegations of this kind end Republican political careers.
What is genuinely remarkable is the position Sen. Bernie Moreno is in. He is a Republican senator who has to go to work every day in the same building as a man he publicly called a danger to his daughter. He shares a party with him. He has to vote alongside him if Miller wins. The Republican Party of Ohio contains multitudes, and apparently also this.
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