US congressman refuses to drop reelection bid over ex-wife's abuse claims

A US congressman who is battling abuse allegations from his ex-wife and her father, a US senator, has vowed he will not suspend his reelection campaign.

Ohio Republican Max Miller, who is fighting for his political life, told CNN:"I'm never going to back down."

It comes a day after President Donald Trump called Miller, a former White House aide, to express doubts about his ability to win in November.

Miller denies abusing his ex-wife and child, saying on Tuesday that he is open to an ethics investigation.

Miller's ex-wife, Emily Moreno, has accused him of throwing her against a wall, holding a gun to her head, and fracturing their two-year-old daughter's collarbone, according to court documents and police reports obtained by news agencies including CBS, the BBC's US partner.

In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Miller sought to rebut the abuse allegations and vowed to stay in the reelection race.

"I am never going to give up," he said. "I will never ever let my baby girl see her daddy walk away as a quitter."

He added: "For no second am I going to sit here and continue to be debased by false and baseless allegations and be pushed out of this seat."

He said the allegations against him were "rumourmills without evidence".

Miller, who is seeking his third term in office in November's midterm elections, called Moreno's accusations "baseless" and "destructive" in a video statement posted to X on Sunday.

Miller has also pointed to the fact that he retains joint custody of their daughter as he rebutted the allegations. He has sued his ex-wife for defamation.

"Miss Moreno has already gone to the police. The police are not investigating it. Ask yourself, why aren't they investigating these things?" he said.

He also offered on Tuesday to file his own paperwork for an ethics investigation into himself "to clear my name from these horrific attacks on myself and family".

"I have absolutely nothing to hide," he posted on X.

The committee formally launched an investigation later on Tuesday. The inquiry could take months to complete.

While Miller and Moreno, whose divorce was finalised last year, have been involved in legal disputes for some time, the rancour has escalated recently ahead of this Wednesday's state deadline to replace congressional nominees on the ballot.

In one police report, seen by CBS and other news outlets, Moreno has alleged that during a custody exchange in February, Miller threw her against a wall, resulting "in an obvious grab mark on her upper arm and bruising to her stomach and side where she hit the wall".

In the report, an officer also described discussions he had with a county child protection specialist a few weeks earlier about an incident where the couple's toddler was diagnosed with a fractured clavicle.

A bruise accompanying the injury "appears to be a hand print and appears to have been inflicted", the officer wrote in the report, according to CBS.

Moreno also told police that after her daughter returned from a stay with Miller, the child said to her: "Daddy kill you", CBS reported, citing the police report.

When Moreno confronted Miller about their daughter's statement, Miller denied that the child "would have heard anything like that from him", the police report added, according to CBS.

Miller has denied Moreno's allegations multiple times and he did so again on CNN on Tuesday.

He told the network: "I wish you could talk to my beautiful baby girl. She can't string together sentences like that."

On Sunday, he alleged that his ex-wife has "significant mental health challenges".

"If I had assaulted her, would she have offered to cook me dinner six days later?" Miller said.

Moreno also alleged that Miller had used illegal drugs, something the congressman acknowledged in his interview with CNN.

The last time he used illicit substances was "several years ago", he said, adding that he had also used "testosterone replacement therapy", which is legal when prescribed by a licensed doctor.

A spokesman for Moreno, Stefan Mychajliw, wrote on X on Sunday: "There is a documented trove of evidence that Miller has a history of violent and dangerous behaviour and no amount of victim shaming will change that."

Moreno's father, Republican Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno, has called for his former son-in-law to be removed from Congress.

"If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them," Bernie Moreno wrote on X on Sunday.

"He should not serve in the House of Representatives. I believe Max Miller needs to seek professional help to end the clear pattern of abuse he has left in his wake."

Many senior Republicans have so far sidestepped questions on the situation or have emphasised that these are just allegations.

Trump, who has endorsed Miller, told reporters on Monday: "It's a very sad thing. I know Max. He's a good person."

Miller acknowldged to CNN that Trump had told him over the phone on Monday: "I don't know if you're going to be able to pull this one out."

But he said he had told the president he would win the election, just as he said Trump had done when embattled by various accusations.

Miller is also facing a newly filed restraining order filed this week a lawyer representing Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary during Trump's first term.

Grisham and Miller had a relationship from 2019-20.

The pair later settled a defamation lawsuit after Grisham accused an unnamed former boyfriend of abuse in a 2021 op-ed in the Washington Post.

Miller denied he was the partner in the accusation and filed a defamation lawsuit against Grisham the following year.

Grisham has separately sued Miller accusing him of breaching the terms of the settlement, which included ceasing disparaging remarks about each other.

The BBC has contacted Miller's office and Moreno's attorney for comment.