GOP Rep’s Wife Files Restraining Order After Disturbing Allegations

Restraining order form on a desk with hands holding a pen — Photo: Vitalii Vodolazskyi / Shutterstock

When a sitting congressman’s ex-wife says he grabbed her lawyer in court and begs a judge to make him stop, you are no longer just talking about a messy divorce—you are looking at a live test of how power, anger, and the legal system collide.

Story Snapshot

Emily Moreno seeks a new restraining order against Rep. Max Miller, focused on his treatment of her lawyers.
The filing describes Miller grabbing attorney Andrew Zashin and goading him during a heated court encounter.
The dispute sits on top of earlier domestic abuse claims and a prior mutual restraining order.
The case raises hard questions about self-control, intimidation, and what voters expect from public officials.

Congressman, Ex-Wife, And A Courtroom Flashpoint

Ohio Representative Max Miller and his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, have been locked in a long, bitter custody and divorce fight that now spills out of family court and into politics. Moreno is the daughter of Senator Bernie Moreno, so this is not a quiet, private feud tucked away from view. Reporters, campaign staff, and voters are all watching every new filing. That is the backdrop when Moreno goes back to court and says, in writing, that Miller needs stronger limits on his behavior around her legal team.

REP. MAX MILLER’S EX-WIFE SEEKS RESTRAINING ORDER AMID ABUSE ALLEGATIONS
BREAKING: Ohio congressman’s ex-wife asks court to block him from contacting her lawyer — Miller denies the allegations. 🚨 #Breaking https://t.co/jcMFbKRO8O

— Never GiveUp (@NeverGiveU29756) July 31, 2026

Moreno’s latest request in Cuyahoga County focuses on how Miller treats her lawyers, not only her. She asks the judge to bar him from harassing, physically touching, or threatening her counsel, whether in person or by electronic means. Her filing says plainly, “This conduct must cease,” and warns that, unless restrained, Miller will keep contacting and intimidating her attorneys. That is a sharp claim against any litigant, but especially against someone who writes federal laws for the rest of us.

What The New Restraining Order Request Says Happened

The filing centers on a hearing held Tuesday in an Ohio courtroom. Moreno says that after the session, while everyone was still in the courthouse, Miller physically grabbed her attorney, Andrew Zashin, to get his attention. She recalls telling Miller, “Get your hands off of him,” as her lawyer began to turn. She also says Miller tried to pull another attorney into the confrontation by grabbing that attorney’s bag. In her account, Miller then goaded Zashin by saying “Come at me!” or similar words.

The filing adds another detail: Moreno says Miller used a profane slur to insult Zashin’s fiancée as they were leaving the courtroom. That type of insult is not just rude; it fits a larger pattern she describes as harassment and intimidation of people around her, not just of her alone. For a judge, repeated targeting of opposing counsel can look like an attempt to work around normal court rules and scare people off. Under basic conservative values of order and respect, this kind of behavior around lawyers and courts raises red flags.

Abuse Allegations And Prior Court Orders In The Background

The lawyer-focused restraining order does not appear in a vacuum. It stacks onto years of claims and counterclaims between Miller and Moreno about domestic abuse and child safety. Police records obtained by national outlets show Moreno has reported multiple incidents of alleged physical violence during the marriage and divorce. CNN has described police videos where Moreno goes through these allegations in detail soon after the events. These are not casual social media posts; they sit inside law enforcement and court systems.

The judge in their case previously issued a mutual restraining order that limited contact and banned both sides from harassing or disparaging each other, including in front of their child. Reports say that order also warned against using phones, devices, or third parties to threaten or annoy one another. Moreno now argues that Miller has not kept himself under control even with those rules in place and that her lawyers need their own shield. From a common sense view, needing layered protection orders in one divorce hints at serious, ongoing conflict, not just one bad day.

Competing Narratives And The Question Of Self-Control

Miller denies the abuse allegations and casts himself as the target of false claims designed to damage his reputation and political future. He has filed a defamation lawsuit against Moreno, saying her description of him as a violent and abusive husband and father has already caused “considerable reputational and financial harm.” His legal team argues that some complaints against him, including child protective filings, were rejected by authorities and that a court granted Miller a restraining order against Moreno earlier in the fight.

The ex-wife of Republican Rep. Max Miller asked a court to issue a restraining order blocking the two-term Ohio congressman from contacting her lawyer, as her allegations that he assaulted her — which Miller denies — continue to plague his contentious reelection campaign.…

— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 31, 2026

Moreno’s side counters that Miller is abusing the legal process to keep pressure on her and to paint her as the problem. Her lawyers accuse him of weaponizing private investigators and public relations campaigns to attack her credibility. One filing quotes Miller’s own attorney saying in court that Miller “just can’t control himself,” a line Moreno uses to support her push for more limits on his contact with her counsel. That statement, if fully confirmed in transcript, goes to the heart of what many voters care about: does this elected official have the self-control and respect for boundaries that we expect from anyone, let alone a congressman close to President Trump’s circle?

Why This Fight Matters Beyond One Ugly Divorce

The Miller–Moreno case shows how modern high-conflict family law can merge with campaigns and media in real time. Domestic abuse allegations, protective orders, defamation suits, and social media narratives do not arrive one by one; they stack and echo. For regular Americans, especially those who value strong families and clear moral lines, this story asks hard questions. How much chaos in a lawmaker’s personal life is acceptable? When do repeated claims of harassment against lawyers and loved ones become disqualifying, even before a final verdict?

Courts will sort the facts, and both sides deserve due process. But the filings already on record show a woman asking a judge to stop a powerful man from grabbing and taunting her attorney in a courthouse hallway, after years of saying he hurt her and threatened her child. That image sticks. It is not partisan to say that elected officials should model restraint, not barely contained rage, when they walk out of a courtroom. In the end, Ohio voters will decide whether they see this as unfair mudslinging or a warning sign they cannot ignore.