Emily Moreno, ex-wife of Ohio Republican Rep. Max Miller and daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno, has asked a court to bar the congressman from contacting her attorney, the latest filing in a custody and divorce battle now shadowed by escalating abuse allegations.
Moreno filed court documents Thursday seeking a restraining order after Miller allegedly grabbed her lawyer, Andrew Zashin, and another attorney following a hearing at an Ohio courthouse earlier in the week. In a sworn affidavit, Moreno stated that Miller has a pattern of targeting her legal representation.
The filing lands in the middle of an already sprawling legal fight between the two-term congressman and his former wife. Miller and Moreno were briefly married beginning in 2022 and share a young daughter. Their marriage ended in June 2025. Since then, the pair have traded abuse allegations, defamation suits, and dueling domestic violence filings, all while Miller runs for a third term in his Republican-leaning Cleveland-area district.
Moreno's affidavit alleges that Miller insulted Zashin's fiancée in front of witnesses at the courthouse after a May hearing. Then, after a hearing this week, Miller allegedly physically grabbed Zashin and another attorney. CBS News reviewed the court documents and police reports underlying the allegations.
Moreno wrote in her affidavit:
"Unless restrained, [Miller] will continue to harass, threaten, and communicate with my counsel directly."
She added that Miller has "harassed, threatened, and communicated directly" with her past legal teams as well, suggesting the alleged conduct toward Zashin is not an isolated episode.
A detail from the Washington Examiner's reporting adds weight to the claim. Miller's own criminal defense attorney, Larry Zukerman, stated during a Tuesday court hearing that his client "just can't control himself." That is not an adversary's characterization. It came from the man paid to defend Miller.
Miller's campaign pushed back. Spokeswoman Abigail Angelos told CBS News:
"The facts speak for themselves: the court has continued to permit him joint custody of his child. If there were credible evidence supporting these outrageous accusations, that simply would not be the case."
Angelos added that Miller "will continue to vigorously defend his reputation against false and reckless allegations designed to inflame public opinion rather than reflect reality."
The restraining order request is only the newest layer in a case built on far more serious allegations. A police report tied to a Feb. 1 incident at Miller's residence in Bay Village, Ohio, states that Moreno alleged the congressman threw her against a wall during a custody exchange, in front of their daughter. The report describes "an obvious grab mark on her upper arm and bruising to her stomach and side where she hit the wall."
Roughly two weeks later, the couple's daughter was diagnosed with a mid-right clavicle fracture. The officer who wrote the report noted that an accompanying bruise "appears to be a handprint and appears to have been inflicted." A county child protection specialist was consulted.
The police report also recorded that the child said to Moreno: "Daddy kill you." Miller denied the child "would have heard anything like that from him." Moreno told police that Miller had "previously held a gun to her head as well."
Miller denied the Feb. 1 allegations under oath. Asked during a court hearing whether he threw his ex-wife against a wall and grabbed her arm, he said "absolutely not." Asked whether he caused the collarbone injury to his daughter, he again said "absolutely not."
Moreno reported another domestic incident to police in March 2025.
The allegations stretch back before the February incident. Court filings from Moreno's legal team in a separate defamation suit state that in 2024, Miller "threw onto Ms. Moreno hot water from a pan of eggs he'd just cooked" after she told him she planned to leave him. After media outlets reported on the hot water allegation, Miller filed a defamation lawsuit against Moreno, citing "considerable reputational and financial harm" caused by claims that he was a "violent and abusive husband and father."
AP News reported that Miller filed the defamation suit in Cleveland, and that a spokesperson for Moreno accused Miller of "running the same playbook" he used against former girlfriend Stephanie Grisham, a former White House aide during President Trump's first term. Grisham had accused Miller of "physical abuse" in a book and a Washington Post op-ed. Miller sued Grisham for defamation as well, then moved to dismiss that case with prejudice before trial.
Moreno's spokesperson, Stefan Mychajliw, told AP News that Moreno "has photographs of her bruises and burns" and said Miller "is upset because he's tried to silence Emily Moreno the same way he silenced Stephanie Grisham, and Emily won't let him."
Miller did not only play defense. In February, he filed a domestic violence case against Moreno. But roughly three months later, he moved to drop it. A judge signed off on the dismissal this week.
The judge's finding was pointed. The New York Post reported that Cuyahoga County Judge Debra Boros found Miller "was not under any apparent infirmity and did not appear to have been threatened by or in fear of" Moreno. The Post also reported that Miller's legal team admitted he lied about having doorbell camera footage to support his claims during a court hearing.
That admission is difficult to square with Miller's public posture. In court transcripts from a May hearing, Miller told the judge that he had "video and text message evidence showing the contrary" of Moreno's allegations. He also claimed that "two separate doctors" told him Moreno "was diagnosed bipolar" and said he believed his ex-wife was "purposefully hurting my daughter."
Miller also claimed to an Ohio magistrate judge that his current girlfriend was present at the house during the alleged February incident. His own attorney later retracted that statement.
Moreno, meanwhile, testified under oath at the May hearing that Miller admitted he was abusive to her and admitted to being abusive in writing. Court transcripts also detail Moreno saying Miller made threatening statements against her father, though no specifics of those threats were included in the record.
Emily Moreno's father, first-term Republican Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno, has been drawn into the dispute. Miller posted on X in May calling it "unfortunate" that Sen. Moreno "continues to fund and enable his daughter's malicious campaign to ruin my life despite his knowledge of her mental health issues."
Sen. Moreno's office issued a statement Friday saying his "top priority is the safety and well-being of his daughter and granddaughter." The statement added that while the senator "does not litigate these matters in the media or respond to baseless public attacks, he will do whatever it takes to ensure a just outcome for his family."
The political fallout extends beyond the Moreno family. The Washington Examiner reported that the Democratic Women's Caucus has called on the House Ethics Committee to investigate Miller following the domestic violence allegations. Reps. Leger Fernandez, Sykes, and Scholten issued a joint statement calling the allegations "deeply disturbing" and saying "Congress can't ignore them."
Miller still holds joint custody of his daughter. No criminal charges in connection with the alleged incidents have been reported. His defamation suit against Moreno remains pending. And the court has not yet ruled on Moreno's new request to bar Miller from contacting her attorney.
The Cuyahoga County investigation into child abuse allegations was deemed unsubstantiated, AP News reported. Miller's campaign has pointed to that finding and to his continued custody as evidence that the allegations lack merit.
But a judge who found Miller was never harmed or afraid of Moreno, an attorney who admitted his own client fabricated evidence, and a defense lawyer who told a courtroom his client "just can't control himself", those are not the hallmarks of a man being falsely accused. They are the hallmarks of a case that demands answers no campaign statement can provide.
