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By Hugh Cameron and Joshua Rhett Miller
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The embattled Republican Congressman Max Miller, under fire following a series of domestic abuse allegations, has now been sued by his ex-wife over claims he and his attorney “recklessly” shared a nude image of their daughter online.
The civil rights lawsuit was filed by Emily Moreno on behalf of the pair’s two-year-old daughter, over the accidental release of the image earlier this month.
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Miller allegedly shared a link on X to a Dropbox folder provided by his attorney, Aaron Minc, which included the image, the lawsuit said. It states that Miller released the photo in a tranche of documents following a livestream on August 2, during which he outlined his intention to remain in the race for reelection in Ohio, and attempted to defend himself against allegations of abuse from Moreno—daughter of the Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno.
"Within a little more than 24 hours, Miller’s original X post linking the open electronic Dropbox folder for the world to see had more than 204,000 views," the court filing states. "As of August 10, 2026, that number grew to more than 233,000 views."
Miller and his attorney have not yet responded to the lawsuit, though Minc has called the allegations "completely outrageous and false." Newsweek has contacted Miller's attorney, who is also a defendant in the case.
Moreno's lead attorney, Subodh Chandra, claims the child had become "collateral damage" to Miller’s political ambition.
"In a desperate attempt to keep his job and attack his ex-wife, the suit alleges, Congressman Max Miller and his attorney Aaron Minc engaged in incomprehensible recklessness by blasting to hundreds of thousands of people on the internet a nude photo showing this helpless two-year-old girl's genitalia," Chandra said in a statement. "Any parent—and any lawyer—knows the grave danger of posting nude photos of a toddler on the public web for pedophiles and bad actors to download. They victimized an innocent child to score political points, and we intend to hold them fully accountable under federal and state law."
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'Trove of Documents and Photos'
“Faced with a mostly self-inflicted dumpster fire of public attention to his reputation for abusive behavior, Miller so desperately wanted to salvage his political job, that he recklessly and intentionally provided Minc a trove of documents and photos, indifferent about what they contained or how they were used,” the lawsuit reads.
According to the lawsuit, Miller’s attorney himself acknowledged that the image was online and downloadable for about 23 hours—from around 10:00 am on August 2 until he realized the error at 9:40 am on August 3.
Moreno is seeking $150,000 in damages for her daughter “for every time someone accessed, transferred, distributed, published, or downloaded the image,” the suit states.
It is unclear how many times the image was downloaded, but the suit states that “more than 400,000 people saw or interacted with the two posts containing the folder.”
Miller Accused of Recklessness
“Miller’s recklessness is underscored by the fact that any parent knows—in this era and world filled with pedophiles, creeps, and AI-generated image alteration and video generation—not to put nude pictures of their child, or any child, on the public internet,” Moreno said in the suit.
Minc had in the past taken responsibility for sharing the sensitive images, telling Politico—in a statement cited in the suit—that he was “solely responsible for what happened.”
“I was the only person responsible for assembling, creating, reviewing, adding, deleting, redacting, or making any changes to the information and files that were in this folder,” his statement continued.
Minc rejected the characterization of the images as “nude” as Moreno’s lawyers had alleged, though Moreno’s lawyers included testimony from a pediatrician who confirms “that the child’s photo depicts her external genitalia.”
In emails between the two legal teams, Minc called accusations that he “mass-distributed” such an image “completely outrageous and false,” and said “the pictures in question were quite innocent.”
Miller’s Midterm Chances Uncertain Amid Allegations
Miller had previously been seen as a strong favourite to win the contest for Ohio’s 7th Congressional District come November.
However, his re-election campaign has been marred by allegations from his ex-wife that he was abusive to her and their daughter—allegations he has strongly denied.
In July and early August, the congressman faced several calls to resign and abandon his re-election bid, including from Miller's former father-in-law, Senator Moreno, who said his daughter lives in “constant fear” of her ex-husband.
Miller said he would request an investigation to “clear [his] name”—and such an investigation has now been launched by the House Ethics Committee.
However, the deadline to select a replacement has now passed and Miller remains in the race, though polls show Democrats with a stronger chance of winning than before the scandal came to a head.
Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Edward Pearcey.
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