Ohio TV stations ignore legal threat from Max Miller, air opponent’s ad: Report

Local television stations in the Cleveland market aired a campaign commercial from Democrat Brian Poindexter attacking Republican Rep. Max Miller despite a cease-and-desist letter from Miller’s lawyer alleging the spot contained defamatory statements. WKYC-TV in Cleveland and three other local stations — WEWS-TV, WJW-TV and WOIO-TV — broadcast the ad on Tuesday, according to reporting first published by Politico.

The commercial features a local sheriff who notes that Emily Moreno, Miller’s ex-wife, has a restraining order against the congressman and describes accusations she has made against him. In the ad the sheriff cites Moreno’s allegations that Miller held a gun to her head and fractured the couple’s two-year-old daughter’s collarbone; the ad also references Moreno’s claim that Miller threw hot water at her.

Miller’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter last week to WKYC-TV executives insisting the ad contained “false and defamatory” assertions and warning the station it could face punitive damages if it aired the commercial. Poindexter posted a video on the social platform X in which he tore up the letter and said Miller was threatening legal action because he did not want voters to hear the allegations.

Rep. Miller has denied the allegations raised by Moreno, who has made them in the context of a custody dispute, and the congressman is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. The Hill has contacted Brito seeking a copy of the cease-and-desist letter; the initial reporting on the stations’ decision to run the ad was published by Politico.