Rep. Max Miller defiant amid abuse allegations and scrutiny over release of ‘sensitive’ photo of child

(CNN) — Rep. Max Miller remained defiant Tuesday, saying he will stay in his reelection race as he faces allegations of abuse and scrutiny over his attorney’s accidental release of a “sensitive” image of the Ohio Republican’s child.

“I’m going to continue to push. I am going to win this race,” Miller, who has denied his ex-wife’s allegations against him, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead.”

The interview came as Miller is facing pressure — including from his former father-in-law, GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno — to drop his reelection bid. CNN reported Monday that allies of Donald Trump have been pushing the president to encourage Miller to drop out.

Miller told CNN that Trump called him Monday and said, “Maxie, it’s going to be a tough race.”

Trump, Miller said, added: “I don’t know if you’re going to be able to, you know, pull this one out.”

But the two-term congressman stood by his odds in November.

“My daughter is going to grow up one day, and she’s going to see all of this, and she’s not going to see that her father caved to political and social media pressures for something that he never did,” Miller said.

Miller’s comments came after the House Ethics Committee announced earlier Tuesday that it is “reviewing allegations that Representative Max Miller may have engaged in domestic violence and abuse or illegal drug use.”

Miller, who worked as a White House staffer and served in the Marine Corps Reserve before joining Congress in 2023, admitted to last using illegal drugs “several years ago.” He denied currently using drugs but said he takes testosterone replacement therapy.

Miller said before the announcement of the probe that he planned to ask the ethics panel to investigate him “to clear my name from these horrific attacks on myself and my family.”

Speaking late Tuesday as he boarded Air Force One en route to Las Vegas, Trump said he feels “badly” for Miller, telling reporters he hopes Miller is able to “work it out.”

Attorney apologizes for releasing photo

Miller said Sunday — just before he posted a link on social media to hundreds of messages, videos and images involving his ex-wife — that one of his primary motivations for airing out his divorce and child custody disputes was to safeguard their young child.

“This isn’t about defending myself,” the Ohio Republican said. “I’m speaking up as a father, trying to protect our daughter.”

But contained in the Dropbox folder that Miller shared with his nearly 60,000 followers on X were sensitive and unredacted details of his own family, including one image that depicted his toddler daughter nude. The photo was taken in the context of an inquiry into an injury the 2-year-old had suffered.

Miller said Tuesday that he was “not defending” the incident, calling it “awful.” But when Tapper called it “shockingly reckless behavior by you and your team,” Miller replied, “I wouldn’t say that it’s shockingly reckless.”

“My attorney took full responsibility,” Miller said. “There was never any intent to do that.”

Miller released the materials as he sought to defend against his ex-wife’s claims of domestic abuse. “I’m going to use my platform to share the facts in this very genuine way,” he said in the Sunday livestream.

The inclusion of the image, which was publicly available for at least a day before being removed, prompted the legal team for Miller’s ex-wife, Emily Moreno, to demand answers on how the material was shared. It also spurred outrage from Bernie Moreno, who previously said his former son-in-law should no longer serve in Congress.

“On Sunday, when he went out and did what he did, including releasing photos of my granddaughter completely naked, that now you have hundreds and thousands of psychotic human beings that have that, and to say ‘oops’ is grotesque,” the senator told reporters Tuesday.

In a letter to Miller’s attorney obtained by CNN, Emily Moreno’s legal team said the post with the link to the folder had garnered more than 204,000 views by Monday afternoon.

“We view this matter with the utmost seriousness and hope you and your client do as well,” Moreno’s attorneys wrote.

Miller’s attorney, Aaron Minc, took responsibility for the image being included in the link.

“Unfortunately, I missed the last three pages of a 40+ page document with sensitive content,” Minc said in a statement to CNN. “It was completely unintentional and a mistake. The moment I discovered the issue on Monday morning, I corrected the file immediately.”

Minc said he made “multiple passes” through the documents to ensure that no potentially sensitive details, including the child’s name, were included in their public release. But the child’s name was included dozens of times in an earlier version of the public file seen by CNN, along with details about payments to medical providers and several images of their daughter.

“I am truly sorry to Congressman Miller, Ms. Moreno, both of their families, and, especially, to their daughter. I deeply regret the mistake,” the lawyer said.

The images were part of a February 2025 exchange between Moreno and Miller as they coordinated their child custody arrangements. In one message, sent on February 18, Moreno said she had noticed a large bruise on their child while she was taking a bath. Miller asked to see a picture of the injury — which turned out to be a broken collarbone — and Moreno sent an image of their daughter that was focused on the bruise, but which also showed her in a state of undress.

That injury prompted a police investigation that ended with no charges being filed.

Key deadlines near in House race

After speaking to the president on Monday, Miller said he responded by drawing a parallel of “the same resilience” Trump embodied in 2016.

As concerns have grown about Miller’s electability, some top House Republicans have phoned White House officials asking for help, a source previously told CNN. Those members specifically wanted Trump to ask for Miller to drop out before a rapidly approaching deadline for him to appear on the ballot, that person said.

According to the Ohio secretary of state’s office, if Miller withdrew before the close of business Tuesday, a special primary would be held to fill the vacancy for the GOP nomination.

However, were he to withdraw from the race after that deadline, party leaders could have a narrow window to replace him. The deadline to replace him on the ballot is August 10, but two days’ notice is required before party leaders would hold a meeting to pick the candidate.

Sen. Moreno on Tuesday declined to talk about Trump’s support for Miller’s reelection bid, telling reporters he doesn’t “care about the politics” of the situation.

“This is truly the seventh level of hell,” the senator said. “This has been a horrific experience for my entire family.”

This story and headline have been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Kristen Holmes, Manu Raju, Ellis Kim, Ethan Cohen and Izzy Lippolis contributed to this report.