Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) allegedly tried to goad his estranged wife's lawyer into a physical confrontation outside a courthouse following a pre-trial hearing on May 7, the New York Post reported. Emily Moreno's legal team described the encounter in a court brief now being used to pursue a restraining order against the congressman.
The filing alleges Miller approached attorney Andrew Zashin after the hearing, insulted Zashin's fiancée by name, and dared the lawyer to fight him. A ruling on the restraining-order request is still pending.
The episode marks the latest, and among the most reckless, chapters in a custody battle that has dragged two prominent Ohio Republican families into open conflict. Miller married Emily Moreno, daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), in 2022. They divorced roughly two years later. They share a two-year-old daughter. What should be a private family matter has instead produced a trail of court filings, police reports, and competing accusations that raise serious questions about Miller's judgment and conduct.
Moreno's legal team laid out the May 7 encounter in detail. The brief states that Miller approached Zashin and made crude remarks about the attorney's fiancée, calling her "not much of a looker" or similar language. It goes further:
"[Miller] referenced Attorney Zashin's fiancée by name, stated that she was 'not much of a looker,' or similar language, and further insinuated that she was a prostitute by claiming that he could find lots of women like Attorney Zashin's fiancée on a street corner for $10."
The brief continued that the congressman "was very clearly trying to provoke Attorney Zashin and incite a confrontation between the two individuals." When Zashin began to turn around, it was to ask Miller's own attorney, Larry Zuckerman, to "control his client."
Miller allegedly kept pushing. The filing states he "continued to goad Attorney Zashin into a confrontation by saying 'Come at me!' or similar language." Zashin did not engage and left the courthouse.
Monica Sansalone, Zashin's lawyer, told the Post that her client "stands by his filings in court on behalf of his client" and that "the accusations against him are baseless." She did not elaborate. Zashin himself declined to comment.
The courthouse incident did not happen in a vacuum. Miller has been locked in a grinding custody and divorce fight that has produced allegations on both sides, and more than one police report.
Emily Moreno accused Miller of shoving her during a custody exchange on Feb. 1. Miller denied it. He also previously claimed in court and in a sworn statement that his girlfriend was present during that exchange, a claim the Post described as false. Miller's team later called the erroneous statements an "honest mistake."
Miller has also sued both Zashin and Emily Moreno for defamation over her abuse accusations. A Miller-aligned source told the Post that the congressman was upset by what the source described as prior attacks by Zashin on Miller's girlfriend and that Miller "stood up for" her at the courthouse.
That framing, a man defending his partner's honor, does not square easily with the specific conduct alleged: a sitting congressman taunting an opposing attorney with vulgar insults and then daring him to fight in a public courthouse.
The Post also reported new details from a January 30, 2025 confrontation between Emily Moreno and Miller's mother, Barb Miller. The incident occurred at a house where Barb was supervising the couple's daughter while Miller was away during his custodial time.
Emily Moreno, accompanied by her own mother Bridget, stopped by the house and attempted to take her daughter. Barb Miller called police. A police report, with names redacted, documented what happened next.
The report quotes Moreno making explicit threats: "I'm going to knock your f---ing teeth out" and "I'm going to f---ing punch you. I'm going to knock you out." She also told Barb Miller: "You are not [my daughter's] Grandmother and never will be."
Moreno later told police she made the threats conditionally, "if she touched me", claiming Barb had tried to grab her as she attempted to leave with the child. The responding officer noted Moreno "would not be facing charges due to saying what she said under duress."
The police report also noted that another babysitter had been present at one point, though it is unclear from the redacted document who instructed that babysitter to leave. The Post reported that Moreno accused Barb Miller of having a "drinking problem and memory issues." Miller's team disputed those accusations.
A shared parenting plan, signed weeks before the January incident and reviewed by the Post, stated plainly: "Father's mother shall not serve as the child's babysitter." The reasons behind that provision remain unclear. But the fact that Barb Miller was supervising the child despite the plan's explicit language adds another layer to an already tangled dispute.
Stefan Mychajliw, a spokesperson for Emily Moreno, told the Post that "Emily remains committed to reaching a peaceful resolution out of the public eye, both for her safety and his." He also offered a sharper assessment of Miller's conduct:
"His latest incident, attempting to start a fight with a lawyer in a courthouse, shows just how erratic and unstable he has become."
That characterization, "erratic and unstable", is a spokesperson's framing, not a clinical diagnosis. But the accumulation of incidents gives it weight. A contested custody exchange. A sworn statement his own team later walked back. A police-documented argument involving his mother. And now an alleged attempt to provoke a fistfight with an attorney in a courthouse hallway.
Miller has served in Congress since 2023. His bitter custody fight with Sen. Moreno's daughter has already drawn attention to a police investigation into the couple's daughter's broken collarbone and bruised shoulder, which occurred while Miller was caring for her. That child-abuse investigation was still listed as active, as the Post previously reported. Court filings in that matter showed Moreno accused Miller of "aggressive, demeaning, and dangerous behavior" in the child's presence.
None of these allegations have been adjudicated. Miller has denied wrongdoing. His defamation lawsuit against Moreno and Zashin signals he intends to fight back aggressively. But the volume and specificity of the accusations, documented in court filings, police reports, and sworn statements, make this far more than a routine divorce spat.
For House Republicans, the Miller saga is a distraction they do not need. Speaker Johnson has already been pressed on the allegations and offered little beyond saying Miller has "got to work that out", a response that satisfied no one.
The party is trying to hold and expand its House majority heading into 2026. Senate Republicans have already warned that House GOP dysfunction is damaging the party's brand. A member embroiled in a public custody war, complete with police reports, restraining-order filings, and alleged courthouse confrontations, does nothing to help that cause.
Several open questions remain. What will the court decide on the restraining order? Will the defamation suit proceed? And will Republican leadership eventually have to address Miller's conduct more directly than a shrug and a "work it out"?
Conservatives rightly hold that elected officials should be judged by their conduct, not protected by their party affiliation. The facts here, sourced from court briefs, police reports, and a shared parenting plan, paint a picture of a congressman whose personal behavior is generating a serious and growing public record of disorder.
Emily Moreno's own conduct in the January incident was far from admirable. Threatening to knock someone's teeth out, even under stress, is not how responsible adults behave during custody disputes. The responding officer's decision not to charge her does not erase what she said.
But the focus keeps returning to Miller, because Miller is the one holding public office, the one who swore an oath, and the one now accused of trying to start a fight with a lawyer in a courthouse. Voters in Ohio's Seventh District deserve a representative whose judgment they can trust. The record building in these filings makes that trust harder to extend with each new allegation.
Public office is a public trust. When the courthouse becomes the stage for personal recklessness, the voters, not the lawyers, pay the price.
