Q: Who is Max Miller?

A: Congressman Max Miller is an Ohio Republican who has been in office for two terms and is currently seeking his third term. I have recently reported on various allegations from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, that according to her, he harmed her physically on multiple occasions.

Q: How did Max Miller go from working at Lululemon to being a congressman?

A: Max Miller was brought into the political world by a cousin who was working on a different Republican presidential campaign in 2016, and when that Republican candidate dropped out, Miller’s cousin brought Congressman Miller onto Trump’s campaign.

Q: What was Max Miller’s history with Donald Trump before he became a congressman?

A: Miller served as an advance man for Trump’s campaign, meaning he helped set up events. Then he served various roles in the first Trump administration in the White House.

Q: Give me a recap of the crimes Max Miller has been accused of over the years, starting at the very beginning?

A: In 2021, Politico reported that before getting into politics, Max Miller had a history of violent run-ins, including some experiences with the cops, in which he was detained for punching his hand through some glass. Also, an alleged event in which he pushed someone down the stairs in high school - a woman who reportedly denied his sexual advances. I spoke to that woman recently, and she understandably didn’t want to talk, but said it was one of the most traumatic nights of her life. And then beyond that, Miller’s ex-wife has accused him of holding a gun to her head, shoving her against a wall, and throwing hot water at her.

Q: What does Miller say about these allegations?

A: Miller vehemently and repeatedly denies that he’s ever been violent towards women or his child, a two-year-old that he shares with Moreno. He didn’t respond to my request for comment, but he has denied all of these allegations to other reporters.

Q: Has Miller been accused of drug abuse, and if so, under what circumstances?

A: In court filings regarding Moreno and Miller’s custody case, Moreno asked Congressman Miller a series of questions about drugs, whether he had used any illegal drugs in recent months, bought or sold any illegal drugs in recent months, and in most cases, Miller denied having used any illegal drugs recently. I did, however, find a police report from 2011, so a long time ago, regarding a previous charge of possibly driving under the influence. Miller said he wasn’t drunk at the time, however, the toxicology report I found shows that he was on substances such as MDMA, which is more commonly known as ecstasy, as well as klonopin, which is a benzo.

Q: Did he face any criminal repercussions for operating a vehicle in that state?

A: He pleaded down in that case to not being able to control his vehicle, but ultimately any driving under the influence charges were dropped.

Q: Does that mean that he’s a convicted criminal? 

A: Miller has not faced any serious criminal convictions for charges he faced as a young twenty-something. He was able to, in multiple interactions with police, plead down more serious charges to misdemeanors.

Q: Tell us about Miller’s history with women, including Stephanie Grisham and his now ex-wife, Emily Moreno?

A: Miller has been accused in multiple situations by multiple women of physical violence. There’s the woman that multiple witnesses saw him push down the stairs in high school. Also, during the first Trump administration, Miller was dating a fellow White House aide, Stephanie Grisham. Grisham published a Washington Post excerpt of her book in which she describes being pushed against a wall and slapped by the White House aide she was dating at the time. That was later reported to be Congressman Miller, who then sued Grisham for defamation.  Again, he denies that he ever hurt Stephanie Grisham. And then, apart from that, you have Emily Moreno’s allegations of him shoving her and holding a gun to her head and throwing hot water at her. I think it’s important to note that Emily Moreno is the daughter of Ohio Republican US senator Bernie Moreno.

Q: Where does Senator Moreno stand on whether his former son-in-law should still be serving in Congress?

A: Senator Moreno said earlier this month that if there are any criteria that should exist for somebody to hold office, that Max Miller does not have them. However, only a handful of Republican lawmakers, all senators rather than Max Miller’s colleagues in the House of Representatives, have actually called upon Congressman Miller to drop out of his reelection campaign. Congressman Miller has since missed a crucial Ohio deadline in order to be able to drop out of the November midterms and be replaced by a Republican.

Q: You found some amazing documents that we haven’t seen anywhere else. Can you describe your overall approach to reporting this story?

A: I had seen murmurs of drama between Congressman Miller and Senator Moreno in other press outlets, such as the Akron Beacon Journal, and Spectrum News. I had seen tweets from Congressman Miller to Senator Moreno suggesting that there was some ongoing legal drama that Senator Moreno was paying for on Emily’s behalf. That caused me to seek out as many court filings and police records as I could from the state of Ohio regarding Congressman Miller and thereafter I was able to compile a trove of thousands of documents - very recent ones but also dating back more than a decade ago. 

I reached out to the Cuyahoga County Courts to request as many legal filings as I could regarding their divorce and custody battle. And those legal documents pointed me to other police reports, other child protective services investigations that ultimately amounted to thousands of pages of legal documents.

Q: Speaking of Child Protective Services, can you recap the saga of Miller’s two-year-old daughter and her broken collarbone?

A: The custody filings between Emily Moreno and Max Miller pointed to a Bay Village, Ohio police report which detailed a child abuse investigation. Their two-year-old daughter had a broken collarbone of unknown origin. Neither parent could determine which parent had custody when the injury happened, so that naturally triggered a Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation. It was in that CPS investigation that Emily Moreno told police she had repeatedly been assaulted by Miller. Ultimately, it’s important to note that the child abuse investigation was unsubstantiated, meaning detectives couldn’t prove that abuse or neglect contributed to the daughter’s broken collarbone. It is still unknown how the child got hurt.

Q: What impact has your piece had so far?

A: There have been a number of Republican senators, including Senator Bernie Moreno, who have called for Congressman Max Miller to drop out of his November re-election campaign and to even withdraw from Congress right now. And those calls for him to drop out have cited allegations that were raised by Mother Jones. There have also understandably been a lot of Democrats who have called on Congressman Miller to drop out. But as of today, the reporting that we’ve presented has not moved the needle for Miller himself.

Q: Did anything unexpected happen in the course of reporting this story?

A: It was unexpected that the story had a slow burn in terms of being shared and beginning to have an impact. We published on July 18th, and for weeks it was just almost radio silence, you know, a mention here or there in a newsletter. But it was at the very end of July and in the very beginning of August that the story really seemed to go viral and more and more people, including very conservative commentators, were citing the reporting as credibly reported, meticulously researched and written, and using that to call on Congressman Miller to potentially step aside.

Q: What’s next for your reporting on this topic?

A: I’m still following the paper trail. There are documents that I am still after that I’ve had a little bit of trouble getting access to, and there are other claims in the trove of documents I’m still following up on.

Q: When I look at the totality of the evidence, I’m shocked that this man was allowed to become a congressman. Is it fair to say that he was handpicked or set up in this role by President Trump?

A: It is very clear from my reporting as well as reporting from other journalists over the last five or six years that President Donald Trump is a big fan of Congressman Max Miller. He’s been a big fan of Max Miller since Max was an aide early on in the first Trump administration. And I think you’re seeing that in the fact that Trump hasn’t called on Miller publicly to drop out. That is a testament to Congressman Miller’s close relationship with the president.

Q: People are talking about how Miller’s domestic violence allegations could create a pick-up opportunity for Democrats in the midterms. What do you think?

A: This seat that Max Miller holds now used to be considered a safe Republican seat. It stretches far down into Ohio, all the way into Amish country. So this wasn’t a seat that Democrats really had much faith in getting. But recently, even as recently as today, the Cook Political Report changed their rating of this race from “Likely Republican” to “Toss Up” so the Democrat running for this seat sees an incredible opportunity to maybe flip the seat blue.