U.S. Representative Max Miller is fighting back against a defamation lawsuit filed by an Ohio doctor, arguing that cell phone evidence will prove he didn't lie about an alleged antisemitic incident on a highway. The congressman, who is Jewish, has obtained a warrant for the doctor's phone records and intends to use them to support his version of events.
The legal battle stems from a February 2026 lawsuit by Dr. Feras Hamdan, a first-generation Palestinian American physician. Hamdan claims Miller falsely told police that Hamdan made antisemitic threats, attempted to run him off the road, and shouted slurs including "dirty Jew" and death threats against Miller and his daughter. The doctor was subsequently charged with ethnic intimidation and tampering with evidence, both felonies.
Miller countersued, denying the accusations. In new court documents, Hamdan alleges that Miller obtained a limited warrant to access his phone records and then used that information to harass him. Miller's legal team argues the records will expose Hamdan's alleged antisemitism and that of his associates.
The case has drawn attention to prior statements by Miller, who in a 2023 interview said Gaza would be "eviscerated" and turned into a "parking lot." Hamdan admits he held up his phone to show Miller a Palestinian flag during the highway encounter but insists his car window was up, making verbal exchange impossible. An acoustics expert hired by Hamdan reportedly concluded that neither party could have heard the other clearly at highway speeds.