Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) has accused his estranged wife, the daughter of Republican Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, of stalling their divorce to prevent financial documents involving her dad from being produced before Election Day.
“Defendant has displayed more concern about how this case may impact her father’s election than about the best interests of [the couple’s daughter] and allowing this litigation to proceed expeditiously,” reads a document filed by Miller’s lawyer on Tuesday, reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Miller, a one-time adviser to former President Donald Trump, filed for divorce from Emily Moreno Miller in August, two years after they were wed at Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey. Trump spoke at the reception.
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Miller’s filing came in response to a request by Moreno Miller’s legal team to delay the production of documents until Nov. 27. Miller’s lawyer noted his estranged wife did not reply to the Aug. 28 divorce complaint until last week.
“At this point it is clear that her efforts to delay this case and the exchange of discovery constitute gamesmanship, are being made in bad faith and for the purpose of undue delay,” the document filed by Miller’s lawyer says.
His team also filed a request earlier this month asking his estranged wife to explain why her net worth was listed as $122,500 on their August 2022 prenup when she later listed it as between $2.5 million and $8.5 million in a U.S. House of Representatives disclosure, the Plain Dealer reported.
In addition to Emily Miller Moreno, Bernie Moreno and his wife, Bridget, have been subpoenaed by Miller’s team to provide records of legal fees paid for her divorce, records of the purchase of the suburban Cleveland home where she now lives, and records of any money they have given to her in the last three years.
The subpoenas ask Moreno to appear at the law offices of Miller’s lawyers the day after the election, when he will face Democrat Sherrod Brown in what could be a razor-thin vote. His wife is requested to appear the day before the election.
Moreno doesn’t have a sparkling record on producing records in court.
The former car dealership owner was excoriated by a judge in 2022 for admitting he shredded documents despite being told to preserve them in one of more than a dozen cases of alleged wage theft against him. He settled 14 such cases in the months leading up to launching his campaign.
He’s also spent the election undergoing a rebrand as a Trump-loving MAGA disciple.
Moreno previously called Trump a “maniac” and a “lunatic,” and claimed in 2019 that “there’s no scenario in which I would support Trump.”
He now glad-hands with the former president and boasts of Trump’s backing.
His soon to be ex-son-in-law also brags about his support from Trump.
Before his marriage to Moreno’s daughter, Miller was accused by his ex-girlfriend, former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, of physically assaulting her after she alleged he cheated. He denied the allegation and sued her for defamation, but withdrew the case last year.
