Ohio Rep. Max Miller's ex-wife filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging he recklessly published a nude image of their 2-year-old daughter through a public Dropbox link he shared on social media while defending himself against abuse claims.
Ohio Republican Rep. Max Miller's ex-wife filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Wednesday alleging he recklessly published a nude image of their 2-year-old daughter to the public internet. The lawsuit, filed in Ohio federal court on behalf of the child, stems from a Dropbox folder Miller linked on social media earlier this month while defending himself against domestic abuse allegations. It seeks $150,000 in damages for every time the image was downloaded.
Emily Moreno, the daughter of Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno, says the folder included a photo of the toddler with her genitalia visible, and that the image remained publicly available for about 23 hours before it was removed. Her attorneys say the folder was viewed more than 400,000 times.
Miller posted the link to the Dropbox folder on his X account, which has nearly 60,000 followers, after an Aug. 2 livestream in which he denied allegations that he abused his ex-wife and their daughter. The file dump was meant to bolster his claim that the abuse allegations were fabricated.
According to the lawsuit, the folder contained the sensitive image of the toddler among more than 40 pages of documents. Moreno's attorney, Subodh Chandra, called the child an entirely innocent victim who has become collateral damage to her father's political ambition.
The lawsuit accuses Miller and his attorney of violating federal statutes governing the disclosure of intimate images. Moreno is seeking $150,000 per download of the photo, plus attorney fees and litigation costs.
Miller's lawyer, Aaron Minc, has said he alone was responsible for the folder's contents and that including the photo was completely unintentional and a mistake. Minc said he missed the final pages of a lengthy document containing the sensitive content and corrected the file as soon as he discovered the problem the next morning.
Minc disputed the lawsuit's description of the image, telling reporters there were no images of genitals and describing it as a shirtless photo of a toddler. A two-year-old girl had her shirt off. That is a deliberately false, sensationalized, and disgusting characterization, he said.
Miller has denied any intent to distribute the image. My attorney took full responsibility, he said. There was never any intent to do that.
The lawsuit is the latest escalation in a divorce and custody fight that has spilled into public view. Moreno has accused Miller of domestic abuse, including pouring hot water on her, holding a gun to her head, and breaking their daughter's collarbone. Miller denies the allegations and filed a defamation lawsuit against Moreno in May.
The House Ethics Committee has opened an investigation into Miller, who asked the panel to review the abuse allegations in an effort to clear his name. Sen. Bernie Moreno, the congressman's former father-in-law, has called the release of the image grotesque and said he believes it should be treated as a felony.
Miller, 37, faces a competitive reelection fight in his Ohio district even as the legal battles mount.
The federal case now moves forward in Ohio, where the court will weigh Moreno's request for damages tied to each download of the image. A separate state-level custody dispute and the House Ethics probe remain active.
The outcome could carry serious consequences for Miller's political career, which was already under pressure before the image controversy. For now, the focus shifts to discovery, where both sides will fight over what happened inside that Dropbox folder -- and who is accountable.
Ohio Rep. Max Miller's ex-wife filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging he recklessly published a nude image of their 2-year-old daughter through a public Dropbox link he shared on social media while defending himself against abuse claims.
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