Mother Jones illustration; Getty
“Max, Can REDACTED please have her bunny back? She’s had it since birth, sleeps with it every night, carries it with her around the house… Please don’t punish REDACTED if you’re upset with me,” Emily Moreno once wrote in an email to her ex-husband, Republican Congressman Max Miller.
Miller, the Ohio lawmaker who has recently been fighting for his political life over allegations that he physically assaulted Moreno and other women, posted screenshots on X last night that he said prove he didn’t withhold their toddler’s stuffed animal during an August custody exchange. Earlier this week, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Emily’s father, described the alleged incident to Congressional reporters.
“Max would not hand over the little blue bunny,” the Senator said when reporters in the Capitol asked about his ex-son-in-law. “Literally held it hostage for 48 hours. This girl is crying at night because she can’t sleep without her little blue bunny. And his answer is, ‘I’m just not going to give it to you.’ So finally, yesterday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, yesterday, he lets the little blue bunny go. This is the level of total and complete depravity.” Miller, in turn, told Sen. Moreno to “please stop the lies.”
“Max would not hand over the little blue bunny.”
But timestamps on the email from Miller’s former wife show the conflict over the bunny began earlier, back in March of 2025.
It’s one of several screenshots regarding the blue bunny that Mother Jones has obtained from a source familiar with the ongoing custody battle. Together, the screenshots of emails and text messages between Emily Moreno, Senator Moreno, Miller, a parent custody coordinator, and lawyers for the involved parties suggest that the alleged withholding of the stuffed animal was part of a pattern of behavior and not a single incident. Miller’s lawyers did not respond to Mother Jones’ request for comment.
Here’s what we know.
In March 2025, Emily Moreno asked Miller to return the blue bunny to their then-one-year-old daughter via email.
Can REDACTED please have her bunny back? She’s had it since birth, sleeps with it every night, carries it with her around the house, and sees it at a source of comfort. You have always delivered it back to me when you drop her off. Please don’t punish REDACTED if you’re upset with me.
I am willing to pick it up from your house, your mailbox, you can drop it in my mailbox. Please.
Thank you,Emily
The next day, Moreno emailed Miller again about the same subject.
Max if you lost it please let me know. If you’re choosing to not return our daughters favorite toy for another reason that’s just cruel.
More than a year later, in May 2026, Sen. Bernie Moreno texted Rep. Miller asking about the blue bunny, which he was apparently supposed to receive during a custody exchange. “Evidently I was supposed to get REDACTED’S blue bunny at pickup. She’s asking for it. Do you have it by any chance?” Sen. Moreno said.
To which, Rep. Miller replied: “You can go through the parent coordinator.”
Evidently I was supposed to get REDACTED’S blue bunny at pick up. She’s asking for it. Do you have it by any chance?
You can go through the parent coordinator. I’m sure l’ll see this one at the next hearing.
If you need anything, have Emily call Dr. REDACTED.
I have no notes or record of what you’re referring to.
It’s the blue bunny she sleeps with, but got it.
Regarding what appears to be a third dispute over the stuffed animal in August, Miller posted screenshots of messages that he says prove he was not purposely hindering the child from getting her blue bunny back.
“So Sorry to bother you about this/I guess REDACTED left her blue bunny at your house and Emily is saying REDACTED wants it back-apparently her dad is offering to come pick It up From You- please Just let me know your response,” wrote the parenting coordinator in a text to Miller.
Miller replied, “Sure.”
According to the messages Miller posted on X, and the screenshots obtained by Mother Jones, the Morenos tried to send a friend of the family to pick up the bunny. “Sending Jared over to my home as a conduit was a bad idea,” Miller wrote on August 3, according to his own screenshot.
Around the time Miller refused to coordinate with the family friend, Emily Moreno’s lawyer, Andrew Zashin, sent Miller’s lawyers a note. “This is totally ridiculous,” Zashin wrote in an Aug. 3 email. “Please have Max return the bunny forthwith.”
Pam:For no apparent reason, Max is not returning REDACTED’S blue bunny to Emily. Dr. REDACTED tried to get the blue bunny back. Dr. K made clear that despite her recommendation that the blue bunny stay with Emily, Max refuses to return it.
Why must this be a controversy?
This is totally ridiculous.
Please have Max return the bunny forthwith.
Thank youAndrew
Throughout the fraught impasse, messages obtained by Mother Jones suggest that Moreno and Miller’s parenting coordinator played the referee.
“I advised him to Let your dad get the bunny from Preferably from The mailbox but he adamantly refuses,” the coordinator wrote, according to a screenshot of the erratically composed text reviewed by Mother Jones.
I’m not coddling him I advised him toLet your dad get the bunny fromPreferably from The mailbox but he adamantly refuses but l’ve suggested you keep the bunny at your house to Avoid these situations because unfortunately in a high conflict divorce these situations blow upOften
Miller continues to defy calls for him to drop out of his campaign for reelection. August 10 is the deadline for him to withdraw and offer Republicans an opportunity to replace him with a less embattled candidate. Thus far, he shows no signs of doing so.