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Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) on Tuesday forcefully denied allegations of domestic violence and addressed claims of illegal drug use in a defiant CNN interview, while making clear he has no intention of abandoning his bid for reelection despite mounting scrutiny.
The interview on “The Lead with Jake Tapper” came shortly after the House Ethics Committee announced it is investigating allegations of domestic violence and abuse or illegal drug use by Miller.
Asked when he last used illegal drugs, Miller told CNN’s Jake Tapper, “I would have to say, the last time I had illegal drugs would have been, I don’t know, several years ago. I mean I don’t have a time frame on it, but I don’t use illegal drugs.”
“People are painting this as something that it’s not. Secretary Hegseth, who is the secretary of war, just three weeks ago, allowed our entire military, who are males, to take testosterone replacement therapy. That’s what I was doing. I have not been using any illegal drugs. This is nonsense,” Miller said.
Miller also repeatedly denied allegations from his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, that he threw scalding hot water at her, pointed a gun at her head and broke their daughter’s collarbone. Miller and Emily Moreno divorced in 2025, and the two have been locked in a bitter custody battle over their daughter.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), the congressman’s former father-in-law, has called for Miller to resign and said Tuesday that his daughter lives “in constant fear of this man. Not like something that’s existential, but deeply in her heart, she fears what this guy is capable of.”
He added that when his granddaughter was staying with him, she would cry at night because she did not have her little blue bunny with her and that Miller had refused to hand it over.
“Max would not hand over the little blue bunny. Literally held it hostage for 48 hours. This girl is crying at night because she can’t sleep without her little blue bunny. And his answer is, ‘I’m just not going to give it to you.’ So finally, yesterday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, yesterday, he lets the little blue bunny go. This is the level of total and complete depravity,” the senator said.
But Miller denied the story on CNN, telling Tapper it wasn’t true.
Miller has insisted he will not drop out of his reelection race, even as he faces intense bipartisan scrutiny over the allegations. He said he received a phone call on Monday from President Trump, who told him it will be a tough race and that he didn’t know whether Miller would be able to pull this one off.
But Miller said that he reminded Trump “of the same resilience that he had when people told him that he was going to struggle in 2016, and he became the 45th president of the United States.”
“I have the utmost confidence that my constituents back home know me. This race is a home race … What you’re going to see here, Jake, is that I am going to be successful in this November because my constituents know who I am, and they also know who my ex-father-in-law is, and they also know who my ex-wife is, and that’s why you’ve seen people aren’t running from me. My numbers in fundraising are strong. You know, Speaker Mike Johnson, everyone else, they’re standing behind me. No one has told me to get off the ballot, and that’s because they know I can win this seat,” Miller said.
Miller is facing off against Democratic candidate Brian Poindexter in the general election.
NOTUS on Sunday reported that a poll conducted by a GOP firm last week found that Poindexter was polling 5 points ahead of Miller — with 44 percent support to Miller’s 39 percent, while 16 percent of respondents were undecided. The Hill has not verified that poll.
Asked if there was anyone in his life who has said it might be in his best interest to drop out, Miller said that he is “never going to give up.”
“At the end of the day, you know, I let the truth speak for itself, and the truth is right there. And I will never, ever, ever let my baby girl see her dad walk away as a quitter. I will continue to finish this, and if I have to run all the way to the end and I’m not successful, Jake, then that’s a decision that I decide to make, and I can hold my head way up high, knowing that I fought for the truth,” Miller said.
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