Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) handed over secret audio recordings of his ex-wife to the New York Post in an effort to fight back against abuse accusations that have turned his once-safe congressional seat into a political liability, and revealed a custody battle so bitter that a judge ordered both parties to stop attacking each other publicly.

Miller, whose Ohio 7th Congressional District race is rated "solid Republican" by the Cook Political Report, told the Post in his first major published interview since the allegations surfaced that the recordings would vindicate him. His ex-wife, Emily Moreno, the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), has accused him of physical abuse, including scalding her with hot water. Miller has sued her for defamation.

The collision of two powerful Ohio Republican families, a toddler with an unexplained broken collarbone, dueling legal filings, and a congressional seat that Democrats now believe they can contest has produced a mess that no amount of political spin can tidy up.

What the secret audio actually captures

Miller told the Post he recorded his ex-wife without her knowledge on Aug. 22, 2024. Ohio is a one-party-consent state, making the recording legal, his team said. On the tape, Emily Moreno acknowledged once receiving a bipolar diagnosis but said a current therapist told her it was inaccurate.

"Okay, Max, and it is. But also I have a current therapist who says that's not accurate."

Miller framed the recording as protective. "The audio is key," he said. "She doesn't know we have that audio. She doesn't know that we have her admitting to her being bipolar."

But the same recording also captured Emily Moreno describing the hot water incident that sits at the center of Miller's own defamation case against her. She told Miller, while unaware she was being taped, that he poured "steaming hot water" on her during a June 9, 2024, argument, that she retreated to a closet crying, and that her mother photographed scars on her neck afterward.

"You poured steaming hot water on me, and you've also been... emotionally abusive, and I have photos of me that my mom took at my house with me with scars on my neck, and you've actually seen those photos."

She added that Miller followed her into the room where she was crying and said, "I didn't mean to hurt you. Why are you scared of me?"

On the tape, Miller responded: "I never thought that, that hurt you" and "it wasn't done with intent."

Miller's version of events

Miller disputes the characterization entirely. He told the Post the red marks visible in photos of Moreno's chest and belly were not burns but a sunburn. He pointed to what he described as a line consistent with a bikini or bra strap. He also insisted that nothing "nefarious" happened, that the two were "just in the kitchen messing around" and that he sprayed her with water after "she started throwing like little things at me, like gummy fruits or whatever."

He argued that if boiling water had been involved, she would have required hospital treatment.

Court records, however, include a handwritten note in blue ink from Miller to Moreno. In it, he wrote: "I'm sorry I failed you and [our daughter]" and called himself "a f--- up and worthless." Miller's own court submissions indicated the letter came in response to the hot water incident. Miller now denies that connection, saying the apology was about a separate argument he had with Moreno's father over a political issue.

The gap between the court filing and his current explanation is the kind of inconsistency that will not go unnoticed, not by opposing counsel, not by voters, and certainly not by Democrats looking for an opening in a district they otherwise could not touch.

A restraining order, and a public broadside

Miller's interview with the Post came just after the judge overseeing the custody case partly granted Emily Moreno's motion for a temporary restraining order, but made it mutual. The order restricts both parties from "disparaging the other in front of the minor child and using social media/electronic devices or third parties to threaten, harass, or annoy the other."

Miller claimed the order as a win, telling the Post that "everything that she had kind of asked for, she did not get."

He then compared his ex-wife to Amber Heard, the actress whose abuse allegations against Johnny Depp collapsed publicly during a defamation trial. "It really shocks me that, and it pains me too, that the mother of my child wants to be known as the next Amber Heard," Miller said. He described one party as "a little bit more chemically unbalanced than the other" before pivoting to their two-year-old daughter: "There's a little girl here that no one's thinking about."

Emily Moreno's spokesperson Stefan Mychajliw fired back, telling the Post that Miller's "public meltdown has grown so erratic that he is now admitting to making private recordings of his closest family members without their knowledge and is laundering them to any reporter who will listen."

The broader pattern of intra-party drama among House Republicans has given Democrats no shortage of material heading into November. But the Miller situation is different in kind, it is not a policy disagreement or a loyalty test. It is a custody fight with police reports attached.

A pattern of accusations Miller cannot shake

Emily Moreno is not the first woman to accuse Miller of violence. Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham publicly described being in a relationship with an unnamed fellow staffer that "turned abusive." Politico reported that Miller "pushed her against a wall and slapped her in the face in his Washington apartment after she accused him of cheating on her."

Miller filed a defamation suit against Grisham in 2021 but voluntarily dismissed it two years later. He implied that legal constraints prevent him from discussing the merits of that case. He did provide audio of Moreno discussing Grisham, a portion of which he has already shared publicly, though the full context of the conversation was not clear from the clip provided.

Separately, accusations have circulated that Miller pushed someone down the stairs at Shaker Heights High School during his youth. Miller flatly denied it. "I'm pretty sure someone's father would have gotten involved, and action would have been taken," he said.

Miller also has a criminal record. In 2007, he pleaded no contest to assault, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. In 2009, he pleaded no contest to underage drinking. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor related to operating a vehicle without reasonable control. His spokesperson Chris Vlasto told the Post that the incidents "occurred decades ago during his high school and college years and are entirely disconnected from his record as an adult."

That is the kind of statement a campaign spokesman is paid to make. Whether voters, and more importantly, whether a family court judge, see it the same way is another matter.

The broken collarbone

The custody battle drew national attention after TMZ reported that Miller and Moreno had conflicting accounts of how their two-year-old daughter suffered a broken collarbone and a bruised shoulder in February. The injury triggered a Bay Village police investigation.

Shortly after an initial doctor's visit on Feb. 16, Moreno took the child for X-rays. Doctors diagnosed the broken collarbone and "what appeared to be a handprint bruise" on her shoulder, a police report stated.

Miller pushed back, noting that the child was in Moreno's care for nine of the eleven days surrounding the injury. "She did not invite me to the hospital visit, which I'm entitled to as dad," he said.

On Feb. 27, Miller pursued a domestic violence case against Moreno, filed alongside the custody proceedings. But his legal team moved to dismiss it just last week. Miller attributed the dismissal to a judge's admonition that both parties needed to "cut it out" and "grow up," and said dropping the case was in the best interest of their daughter.

The political stakes

Miller faces a Bernie Sanders-backed Democratic opponent in November. Under normal circumstances, Ohio's 7th District would not be competitive. The abuse allegations have changed the calculus. Democrats now see an opening in a seat they would otherwise write off.

Miller previously sat down with the Plain Dealer, which declined to publish that interview. The Post interview represents his most extensive public effort to control the narrative. Whether releasing secret recordings of the mother of his child accomplishes that goal, or deepens the impression of chaos, depends on what voters in northeast Ohio decide matters more: the content of the tapes or the fact that a sitting congressman made them.

Lawyers for Moreno had previously sought "all documents, including but not limited to, videotapes" that Miller's team "might or possibly use as exhibits." Miller's team said it would "supplement" the court record by providing the audio if necessary. That means the recordings may soon be subject to judicial scrutiny, not just public opinion.

None of this is good for the Republican majority in the House. Every safe seat that becomes competitive forces the party to spend money and attention it cannot afford to divert. And the facts here, a mutual restraining order, a toddler's broken collarbone, dueling abuse claims, secret recordings, a dismissed domestic violence filing, and a congressman comparing his ex-wife to Amber Heard on the record, are not the facts of a candidate running from strength.

Voters deserve representatives whose personal conduct does not require a legal glossary to explain. Whether Miller can prove his case in court remains to be seen. What he has already proven is that his district's voters will be making their choice with far more information than they bargained for.