Bernie Moreno Finally Says He Doesn't Think The Creep Who Allegedly Abused His Daughter Should Be In Congress
That's ... something.
Last week, while the Right was relitigating COVID, again, Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio took a furious stand against Anthony Fauci for recommending people wear masks during the global pandemic that killed a million Americans. Ever so confidently, Moreno asked Fauci “Who the fuck do you think you were?” and all of the stupid people in the country swooned over the way he really took it to the man.
Less stupid people, however, wondered out loud at Moreno about why he had so much more outrage for a family who wouldn’t wear masks to an event at a stadium than he did, at least publicly, for his own daughter. Because, incredibly enough, he had yet to say word one about the fact that his daughter had accused Rep. Max Miller — her ex-husband and Moreno’s fellow Ohio Republican — of domestic violence, including throwing a pan of hot water at her, holding a gun to her head, and breaking their daughter’s collar bone.
Moreno remained relatively silent, even after a recent Mother Jones exposé revealing even more abuse. It was almost as if he were just willing to let this whole thing blow over so that it wouldn’t mess with Miller’s reelection campaign, so that Republicans wouldn’t risk losing another seat in the House, and is now just saying something because criticism of Miller has ramped up and this coming Wednesday is the last day they have to put a potential replacement for him on the ballot. (Pretty sure it was exactly like that.)
On Sunday, Max Miller went live on social media to refute the allegations against him and accuse Emily Miller of lying about an assault that allegedly occurred on February 1 of this year during a custody exchange, during which she says he hit her and threw her up against a wall.
Miller’s “evidence” is her behavior after the fact, as well as his own, noting that a video of her leaving his residence shows him telling her and her daughter that he loves them. Because it’s not like we’ve ever heard of an abusive asshole doing something like that before, except in literally every single after school special, very special episode, Lifetime movie, and high school health class movie we have seen about domestic violence in the last 50 years.
“If I had assaulted her,” he said, “would she have offered to cook me dinner six days later? Would she have invited me to spend an afternoon at the playground with her and our daughter? Would she have written that we were in a friendlier place? No, she wouldn’t have, ladies and gentlemen.”
Yes, she absolutely would have, because exactly none of that behavior is out of the ordinary for survivors of domestic violence. People are absolutely likely to try to appease their abusers.
Perhaps as a result of all that, as well as the Mother Jones article that was published last month revealing even further details of the alleged abuse, Moreno (Emily Miller’s father) finally came out and made a statement this weekend.
As a father and husband, I can tell you the last two years have been pure hell for my wife Bridget, our daughter Emily, me, and our entire family in the aftermath of Emily’s divorce.
It has been horrific to watch this play out in full public view, all while knowing an innocent two-year-old girl is caught in the middle. Our priority has always been protecting our daughter and our granddaughter. Out of concern for the safety of my family, I hoped to keep this matter private but Max Miller’s increasingly erratic and dangerous behavior has made that impossible.
As he has admitted privately, Max Miller needs serious psychological help. He is a danger to my daughter, and I hold my breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter.
If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them. 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. I believe he should not be free to continue endangering others until he does.
I do not like Bernie Moreno, but the “I hold my breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter” is absolutely devastating and I just don’t think that’s the language you reach for if you’re lying. That being said, “He should not serve in the House of Representatives” is probably one of the most tame fatherly reactions to someone abusing their daughter that I can imagine. He's lucky his head is not going through the House of Representatives, frankly.
Max Miller also released (and then swiftly deleted) a link to a dropbox containing “documentation” of his claims. In one conversation, Emily Moreno accuses him of being on drugs and leaving needles around, which he denies (later telling her he was taking testosterone, which is not exactly a known personality-enhancer). Notably, Miller had previously refused to discuss his use of steroids in court.
In another audio recording he apparently thought looked good for him, and which he had previously sent to the New York Post, Emily told him that she “literally went into the closet and started crying” after he poured hot water (from a pan he had just cooked eggs in) on her, to which he replied “I never thought that that hurt you” and “it wasn’t done to hurt you with intent.”
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The Mother Jones article also cited and further detailed a number of previously reported violent and irresponsible incidents in Miller’s past, including when he was arrested for driving while on ecstasy and Klonopin (but, his lawyers will have you know, not drunk), the time several of his high school classmates saw him throw a girl down the stairs at a party for refusing his advances (!), and another incident of violence against a woman while he was in college. Among the new information was the fact that he allegedly referred to the birth of their child (which he allegedly refused to be present for) as having “set [Emily’s] playground on fire.”
Hard yikes.
Naturally, most of Miller’s defense is that “she’s crazy,” because we’ve definitely never heard that one before.
It sure would be very unusual for all of these disparate women who don’t (as far as we know) know one another to embark upon a plot, from high school on, a campaign to ruin Max Miller’s life and political ambitions, with him doing nothing but being a lovely human being all the while.
Given that it’s unlikely that the GOP is going to pull him out of the race by Wednesday, because they don’t seem to care too much about that kind of thing, let’s hope that Democrat Brian Poindexter beats his ass in the general. It’s a pretty red district, for sure, but that’s a lot for people to swallow. And even if they’re willing to believe him about the abuse claims, claiming that childbirth “set her playground on fire” is gonna be a pretty rough sell for most women.
To donate to Poindexter’s campaign and get that creep the fuck out of congress, click here!
"In one conversation, Emily Moreno accuses him of being on drugs and leaving needles around, which he denies (later telling her he was taking testosterone, which is not exactly a known personality-enhancer)."
Does he have a prescription for that shit? It's a Schedule III controlled substance. If he's getting it from a doctor, perhaps that doctor needs looking into.
This creep poured boiling water on his wife and broke a toddler's collarbone. He should be in prison.