Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) called his former son-in-law, Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), dangerous and unfit to serve in office after the congressman defended himself against allegations of domestic and child abuse in a Sunday morning livestream.

Moreno, the father of Miller’s ex-wife, Emily Moreno, said that the congressman’s “increasingly erratic and dangerous behavior” has forced him to publicly call for Miller to leave his post. Moreno’s statement was posted to X less than an hour after Miller said he had “nothing to hide” in a 20-minute video shared in tandem with a package of documents refuting his ex-wife’s accusations.

“If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them. He should not serve in the House of Representatives,” Moreno wrote. “I believe Max Miller needs to seek professional help to end the clear pattern of abuse he has left in his wake. I believe he should not be free to continue endangering others until he does.”

Calling the last two years “pure hell” for his family, Moreno said Miller needs “serious psychological help” and “should not be free to continue endangering others” until he does so.

As the first Republican in congress to call for Miller’s resignation, Moreno’s statement marks a dramatic development in the dispute, which has gained increased public attention amid a tight race between Miller and Democrat Brian Poindexter in Ohio’s 7th Congressional District.

In his Sunday livestream, Miller denounced claims he was an “abusive husband, an abusive father” and “a violent man” as he disputed allegations that he’d threatened his wife at gunpoint, attacked her with scalding water and broken their toddler’s collarbone.

Spokesman for Emily Moreno, Stefan Mychajliw, slammed Miller’s video address in a separate statement, calling it “shameful” for him to go on a “bizarre and lie-filled rant about his ex-wife to desperately try to save his political career.”

“There is a documented trove of evidence that Miller has a history of violent and dangerous behavior and no amount of victim shaming will change that,” he went on. Mychajliw also accused the congressman of using his daughter as a “PR pawn,” calling the “unhinged and humiliating video” both “despicable and abhorrent.”

Poindexter also issued a statement, writing, “No one credibly accused of holding a gun to his wife’s head and breaking their two-year-old daughter’s collarbone belongs in the halls of power.”

HuffPost has reached out to Miller’s office for comment.

Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

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