CNN’s Jake Tapper Calls Out Congressman’s Team’s ‘Reckless Behavior Over ‘Naked’ Pic of Daughter

 

CNN’s Jake Tapper grilled a defiant Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) over his team releasing a “naked” picture of his two-year-old daughter.

Miller joined Tapper on Tuesday’s The Lead for a heated interview focused on abuse allegations from Emily Moreno, the mother of his two-year-old daughter and the daughter herself of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH). Emily Moreno has accused Miller of physically abusing both her and their daughter.

Tapper noted the “naked” photo of Miller’s daughter was released during a livestream he did on X. Miller’s lawyer, Aaron Minc, has taken responsibility for the topless photo being included in a drop box of photos.

“There were no images of ‘genitals,'” the lawyer told Mediaite. “A two-year-old girl had her shirt off. That is a deliberately false, sensationalized, and disgusting characterization.”

Tapper called out Miller for his and his team’s “shockingly reckless behavior.”

Miller denied it was “shockingly reckless” and then claimed the photo is part of a Child Protective Services case and publicly available, something Tapper immediately called out. Miller also claimed the photo was taken “out of context.”

“It’s not publicly available,” Tapper told the congressman. “We called the court today. It’s not publicly available, but your attorney apologized.”

“I’m not defending it. It’s awful,” Miller replied.

“You just defended it! You said it was taken out of context,” Tapper shot back.

“Because it is taken out context in terms of how the articles have been written about it. I didn’t do this. My attorney took full responsibility. I believe that it’s awful, there was never any intent to do that,” Miller said.

Check out the full exchange below:

JAKE TAPPER: So you did your livestream on Twitter or X on Sunday. You said you were doing so to protect your daughter. And you did so and you also released a Dropbox on X with files involving your family to show that you’re a good dad. Now one of the files was an image of your daughter naked. And it was available in that Dropbox for a day before that photograph was removed. It’s an image that your ex-wife’s attorney says could qualify as child sexual abuse material. Your attorney has said that he is the one who did that and he apologizes, but it is shockingly reckless behavior by you and your team.

MAX MILLER: I wouldn’t say that it’s shockingly reckless. That photo that was put in there is actually a part of an investigation by the Child and Family Protective Services and that is already public knowledge that people can go and they can look through through court-reported mandates. This is being taken very much out of context. There was no genitalia of my daughter that was exposed and this is once again a very salacious headline.

TAPPER: It’s not publicly available. We called the court today. It’s not publicly available, but your attorney apologized.

MILLER: I’m not defending it. It’s awful.

TAPPER: You just defended it! You said it was taken out of context.

MILLER: Because it is taken out context in terms of how the articles have been written about it. I didn’t do this. My attorney took full responsibility. I believe that it’s awful, there was never any intent to do that. What I did on Sunday, okay Jake, I went on CNN with Lauren Fox for a 45 minute interview about a month ago.

TAPPER: Right, we ran some of it.

MILLER: Right, right, you aired some it, but only six minutes of that interview was played.

TAPPER: That’s how TV works.

MILLER: I know, Jake, but here’s the deal, okay? She asked me a question, and she asked me very, you know, a laced question and said, you know your ex-father-in-law and your ex wife say that your daughter is terrified to go to your home. Every single time they say she’s terrified. I then played Lauren Fox three separate audio videos. Three separate audio videos of my daughter saying I do not want to go to mommy’s, I do not want mommy’s and I do not feel safe. None of that made it out there. Why?

TAPPER: Because it was recorded without her permission is my understanding of it.

MILLER: No, it’s a one-party consent in the state of Ohio. And this is what I’ve had to do in order to get my truth out. I mean you could say this is what the media does. They take a 45 minute interview and they clip it to six minutes of what they want the American people to see. That’s why I did the livestream to lay everything out and I’m not hiding.

TAPPER: I’m not talking about whether or not it was legal or illegal to record your ex-wife. I’m saying that the reason we didn’t air it is because it was our understanding that the recording was done without her permission. That’s something else. That’s discretion. That’s journalism. That’s not a question of legality.

Watch above via CNN.

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Zachary Leeman covered pop culture and politics at outlets such as Breitbart, LifeZette, BizPac Review, HollywoodinToto, and others. He is the author of the novel Nigh. He joined Mediaite in 2022.