WASHINGTON — A sordid, yearslong family drama involving two powerful Republican members of Congress from Ohio and allegations of domestic abuse is threatening to put a fairly safe GOP House seat at risk in an already challenging midterm election year for the party.

Rep. Max Miller, a second-term Republican representing northeast Ohio whose political rise was fueled by his close relationship to President Donald Trump, has been accused by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, of domestic abuse against her and their 2-year-old daughter.

Moreno, the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, has said that Miller scalded her chest and stomach by throwing hot water from a skillet at her body; held a gun to her head; pushed her against a wall and hit her head; and fractured their daughter’s collarbone and bruised her shoulder.

According to court documents, their daughter at one point told Emily Moreno, “Daddy kill you.”

Miller has not only denied it all, he has gone on offense against Moreno, making damaging accusations of his own in a series of media interviews, court filings and countersuits that have kept the family’s personal trauma in the headlines. He has called his ex-wife mentally ill, a liar, a stalker and a dangerous individual who has made him and their daughter unsafe.

The legal and public relations war has in recent weeks risen to the level of a serious concern to Trump’s political operation, as well as White House officials, who are keenly aware that every seat matters as they stare down an electoral map that shows them at risk of losing their House majority.

They worry that Miller is harming his reelection chances and Republicans’ hopes of preserving the seat, according to three people familiar with internal discussions who spoke about them on condition of anonymity.

And Democrats, who initially had little hope of flipping the seat, are newly bullish about their chances in the district, tempered only by a worry that Republicans may intervene and replace Miller on the ballot before an Aug. 5 deadline.

Miller, however, angrily disputed the notion that his seat was in jeopardy in a series of text messages in which he threatened to block a reporter’s number for seeking comment about the matter.

“Texas is turning blue like I’m losing my seat,” he wrote in one text. “Take a hike. After I win by more than my district, don’t bother ever contacting me again.” Miller added: “You’re disgusting,” noting that his child was involved, and saying that any such story was “trash.”

He has continued to rage at Moreno publicly.

In a recent interview with Spectrum News, Miller said that his ex-wife “sadly isn’t all there.”

In court, he has accused Moreno of making “repeated false reports” to child protective services, medical professionals, law enforcement and others. He has filed a defamation lawsuit against Moreno, saying she was running a smear campaign against him.

He has claimed that Moreno has untreated bipolar disorder, and said she is stalking him and trying to damage his reputation. He has told the court that he fears for his safety because of Moreno’s “vindictive and unpredictable behavior,” asserting that she owns at least one handgun, and claimed that their daughter’s collarbone injury was caused by Moreno’s reckless driving.

Moreno’s lawyer, Andrew Zashin, has said that she does not own a handgun, and Miller has not specified what kind or where it is. Her lawyer has also said she does not have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. (Miller has sued Zashin.)

The recent conduct of Miller, who was once close with the president as well as Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, has become a source of frustration in the president’s circle, according to people familiar with their thinking. Many of them view his political problems as ones of his own making, and his to fix.

According to internal polling research by Democrats, Miller appears just 1 percentage point ahead of his Democratic challenger, Brian Poindexter, in a district that Trump won by double digits in 2024. The Democratic campaign arm has yet to spend any money in the district highlighting the claims against Miller, which aides said they planned to do.

“If all the allegations prove to be true,” Poindexter said in an interview, “Miller should be in jail, not worried about retaining a seat in Congress.”

Republicans close to Trump said they had viewed private polling that was also alarming for Miller’s candidacy. A spokesperson for the party’s House campaign arm did not respond to a request for comment on the race.

A spokesperson for Miller’s campaign, Abigail Angelos, noted that the court has continued to permit Miller joint custody of his child, undermining the credibility of what she called “outrageous accusations” against him. She said Miller would “continue to vigorously defend his reputation against false and reckless allegations designed to inflame public opinion rather than reflect reality.”

Bernie Moreno has remained publicly quiet about the case, which has created an awkward disconnect between both men’s political interest — keeping Miller’s seat in Republican hands — and the family feud.

A spokesperson for Bernie Moreno, Reagan McCarthy, said that “Senator Moreno’s top priority is the safety and well-being of his daughter and granddaughter.” The spokesperson added: “While he will 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.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Annie Karni and Robert Draper/Eric Lee
c. 2026 The New York Times Company