Max Miller now says Bernie Moreno delayed condemning him because of a "deeply personal and embarrassing matter"

The congressman is no longer merely hinting at leverage over the Ohio senator. He's now publicly claiming Moreno's silence was driven by fear of exposure.

Last Thursday Ohio’s Republican Senator Bernie Moreno was silent about allegations that go back two years made by his daughter—allegations that she and her two-year-old daughter were physically abused by her ex-husband, Ohio MAGA GOP Rep. Max Miller.

But on Sunday, Moreno completely reversed, calling Miller “dangerous,” and in need of “psychological help.” He stated that Miller should “not serve” in Congress.

So what changed in 72 hours?

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After Mother Jones had last week reported on hundreds of court filings it obtained in the case, followed by The New York Times and other publications, I focused on an aspect of the story that was getting little attention early on in the media. According to one court filling, Miller had sent a text to Bernie Moreno, threatening him with exposure of private information:

“I’m sick of this, you know I never hurt our daughter. Take this however you want, everyone is going to get to know you better than your wife does,” Miller wrote to Bernie Moreno, according to an exhibit referenced in Emily Moreno’s motion for a restraining order. “Enjoy the ride brother, I wouldn’t have to do this if you could keep your lying daughter under control.”

I wrote a piece connecting that text to an Associated Press report from 2024 about the male-for-male sex ad linked to Moreno’s email account about which Moreno offered a laughably implausible explanation—and the story took off. The AP had also focused at the time on how Moreno was previously a supporter of LGBTQ rights, having stood by his own gay son, but completely reversed on the issue when he went from Ohio businessman to MAGA politician.

Is Rep. Max Miller threatening to out Sen. Bernie Moreno for having sex with men?

Miller took to X on Sunday and announced in a video he would not be stepping down and repeated his denials and claims that Emily Moreno is lying. That’s when Bernie Moreno suddenly broke his two-year silence and responded with his forceful post on X, finally condemning Miller. He also spoke out publicly to reporters the following day about the fear his daughter has experienced, saying the whole experience has been “brutal” and that Miller doesn’t “meet the standard” to serve in Congress.

Miller, responding to Moreno’s post, seemed to zero in on the story of the sex ad that had blown up again. He claimed Moreno, in speaking out, was now trying to distract from his own “media circus.”

Did Moreno in fact decide he had to finally say something because he couldn’t appear vulnerable to that kind of blackmail threat? Or was it the public outrage? Or pressure from Republicans?

It doesn’t look like Republican pressure. Donald Trump didn’t back Moreno’s condemnation, stating when asked that “so far, it’s accusations,” and later saying, “I’m going to let the families figure it out.” Other Republicans didn’t rally behind Moreno either.

I think Moreno realized he could no longer appear to be under Miller’s thumb. Once that threatening text became part of the public conversation, staying silent became more damaging than speaking out. And saying that Miller needed “psychological help” was perhaps an attempt to undercut his credibility regarding any allegations about Moreno.

But speaking out was not without risk either: Miller yesterday appeared to make the threat again and also alleged that Moreno remained silent all this time because he was indeed afraid of revelations about him becoming public if he spoke out. On CNN, Miller said of Moreno:

He’s taken two years to publicly acknowledge me to resign from my seat. Why is that? If he truly believes—like, I’m a father to a two and half year old daughter…What I can tell you is, that if my daughter came to me, and she said, “My ex-husband did x, y and z,” and then I waited, because I was nervous that a political livestream was going to expose a deeply and personal embarrassing matter to the senator—for him to take that action, sadly this has nothing to do with my daughter…

That’s Miller’s allegation, of course, and he’s alleged lots of things and offered ludicrous answers under questioning on CNN in a train wreck of an interview as he tries to defend himself against credible accusations.

But there’s a lesson here: Bernie Moreno didn’t just change his politics in 2024. He reinvented himself—from pro-LGBTQ ally to MAGA culture warrior. And whenever a politician builds a career on denying or burying part of who they were—or who they are—they create vulnerabilities that can have real political consequences.

This is another reminder that the political closet has never just been about sexuality. It’s about secrecy, vulnerability, and the dangerous combination of secrecy and power.