OHIO BERNIE MORENO CHALLENGING SENATOR SHERROD BROWN!
NEVER HELD PUBLIC OFFICE, SCRUTINIZE HIS POSITIONS....
Trump Candidate In PANIC MODE After Incriminating Email Stunt Uncovered
Donald Trump backed Republican candidate for Senate, Bernie Moreno, goes full panic blaming intern after incriminating account linked to his work email surfaces. John Iadarola and Brett Erlich break it down on The Damage Report. Read more here: Trump-Backed Senate Candidate Blames Intern After Work Email Linked to Adult Profile: ‘Looking for Young Guys To Have Fun With’ - https://www.mediaite.com/politics/tru... "A Republican Senate candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump has blamed a former intern after his work email was linked to an adult profile seeking “young guys to have fun with.” Bernie Moreno’s work email was used to register an account on Adult Friend Finder in 2008 which sought “Men for 1-on-1 sex,” according to AP. “Hi, looking for young guys to have fun with while traveling,” read the profile, which was linked to Moreno’s work email through records from a data breach." ** Be part of the Dragon Squad as a YouTube channel member: http://go.tyt.com/join-tdr Follow The Damage Report on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDamageRep... Help build the Home of the Progressives http://tyt.com/JOIN Subscribe to The Damage Report YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thedamagerepo... Follow The Damage Report on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedamagerepo... Follow The Damage Report on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thedamagerep... Follow The Damage Report on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDamageReport #TheDamageReport #JohnIadarola #TheYoungTurks 240315__DR06SenateCandidate
Trump-backed Senate candidate faces GOP worries that he could be linked to adult website profile
WASHINGTON (AP) — For Republicans eager to regain the Senate majority this year, Ohio offers a prime opportunity to pick up a critical seat.
But ahead of Tuesday’s primary election, there’s mounting anxiety inside the GOP that Bernie Moreno may emerge with the nomination. After vaulting into the top tier of contenders with a coveted endorsement from Donald Trump, Moreno — who has shifted from a public supporter of LGBTQ rights to a hardline opponent — is confronting questions about the existence of a 2008 profile seeking “Men for 1-on-1 sex” on a casual sexual encounters website called Adult Friend Finder.
“Hi, looking for young guys to have fun with while traveling,” reads a caption on a photo-less profile under the username “nardo19672,” according to an Associated Press review of records made public through a massive and well-publicized data breach of the website. Records also show the profile was last accessed about six hours after it was created.
The AP review confirmed that someone with access to Moreno’s email account created the profile, though the AP could not definitively confirm whether it was created by Moreno himself. Questions about the profile have circulated in GOP circles for the past month. On Thursday evening, two days after the AP first asked Moreno’s campaign about the account, the candidate’s lawyer said a former intern created the account as a prank. The lawyer provided a statement from the intern, Dan Ricci, who said he created the account as “part of a juvenile prank.”
“I am thoroughly embarrassed by an aborted prank I pulled on my friend, and former boss, Bernie Moreno, nearly two decades ago,” Ricci said. The AP couldn’t independently confirm Ricci’s statement and he didn’t immediately respond to messages left for him on multiple phone numbers listed to him. He donated $6,599 to Moreno’s campaign last year, according to campaign finance records.
Moreno’s lawyer, Charles Harder, insisted Moreno “had nothing to do with the AFF account.”
Once a premier swing state, Ohio has moved sharply to the right in recent years. Trump easily won the state in 2016 and 2020 and the GOP controls top statewide offices along with both chambers of the legislature. That has raised hopes among Republicans that Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown won’t be able to overcome the headwinds that have largely swept his party out of power in Ohio.
And with Republicans just one seat short of a Senate majority if they also win the presidency, the results in Ohio could have major implications for the balance of power in Washington.
The dynamics have raised the stakes for Trump, who sided with Moreno in a crowded field that includes Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan. Trump is scheduled to appear alongside Moreno on Saturday at a rally in Dayton, Ohio.
In a statement, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung blamed the media for being “obsessed with anyone who supports the America First movement.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — For Republicans eager to regain the Senate majority this year, Ohio offers a prime opportunity to pick up a critical seat.
But ahead of Tuesday’s primary election, there’s mounting anxiety inside the GOP that Bernie Moreno may emerge with the nomination. After vaulting into the top tier of contenders with a coveted endorsement from Donald Trump, Moreno — who has shifted from a public supporter of LGBTQ rights to a hardline opponent — is confronting questions about the existence of a 2008 profile seeking “Men for 1-on-1 sex” on a casual sexual encounters website called Adult Friend Finder.
“Hi, looking for young guys to have fun with while traveling,” reads a caption on a photo-less profile under the username “nardo19672,” according to an Associated Press review of records made public through a massive and well-publicized data breach of the website. Records also show the profile was last accessed about six hours after it was created.
The AP review confirmed that someone with access to Moreno’s email account created the profile, though the AP could not definitively confirm whether it was created by Moreno himself. Questions about the profile have circulated in GOP circles for the past month. On Thursday evening, two days after the AP first asked Moreno’s campaign about the account, the candidate’s lawyer said a former intern created the account as a prank. The lawyer provided a statement from the intern, Dan Ricci, who said he created the account as “part of a juvenile prank.”
“I am thoroughly embarrassed by an aborted prank I pulled on my friend, and former boss, Bernie Moreno, nearly two decades ago,” Ricci said. The AP couldn’t independently confirm Ricci’s statement and he didn’t immediately respond to messages left for him on multiple phone numbers listed to him. He donated $6,599 to Moreno’s campaign last year, according to campaign finance records.
Moreno’s lawyer, Charles Harder, insisted Moreno “had nothing to do with the AFF account.”
Once a premier swing state, Ohio has moved sharply to the right in recent years. Trump easily won the state in 2016 and 2020 and the GOP controls top statewide offices along with both chambers of the legislature. That has raised hopes among Republicans that Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown won’t be able to overcome the headwinds that have largely swept his party out of power in Ohio.
And with Republicans just one seat short of a Senate majority if they also win the presidency, the results in Ohio could have major implications for the balance of power in Washington.
The dynamics have raised the stakes for Trump, who sided with Moreno in a crowded field that includes Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan. Trump is scheduled to appear alongside Moreno on Saturday at a rally in Dayton, Ohio.
In a statement, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung blamed the media for being “obsessed with anyone who supports the America First movement.”
GOP frustration
Moreno’s potential vulnerability has sparked frustration among senior Republican operatives and elected officials in Washington and Ohio, according to seven people who are directly familiar with conversations about how to address the matter. The people requested anonymity to avoid running afoul of Trump and his allies. They described concerns surrounding Moreno’s candidacy as so acute that some party officials sought a review of data to determine his potential involvement.
That review, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, linked the profile to Moreno’s work email address.
The AP’s independent review reached the same conclusion. The AP obtained data from the Adult Friend Finder leak as well as information that remains publicly accessible on the company’s website. An analysis of those records show the profile was created and authenticated by someone who had access to Moreno’s work email account.
Beyond the work email, the profile lists Moreno’s correct date of birth, while geolocation data indicates that the account was set up for use in a part of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where property records show Moreno’s parents owned a home at the time. The account’s username — nardo19672 — appears to refer to Moreno’s full first name, Bernardo, as well as the year and month of his birth in February 1967.
“This is a telling example of how this data doesn’t just go away,” said Jake Williams, a prominent cybersecurity researcher and a former National Security Agency offensive hacker who independently confirmed that Moreno’s work email address was included in a copy of the leaked data from Adult Friend Finder.
Harder also provided a statement from Helder Rosa, a former vice president for Bernie Moreno Companies, that said Ricci was an intern in November 2008 and that people in such roles had duties that included checking emails. Rosa has donated $12,400 to Moreno’s two campaigns for Senate, according to campaign finance records. He didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Moreno, 57, was born in Colombia to a wealthy family before immigrating to Florida as a child and becoming a U.S. citizen at the age of 18, according to a biography on his website. He purchased his first car dealership in 2005 and used his wealth to build an empire that came to include high-end dealerships in multiple states.
Moreno’s potential vulnerability has sparked frustration among senior Republican operatives and elected officials in Washington and Ohio, according to seven people who are directly familiar with conversations about how to address the matter. The people requested anonymity to avoid running afoul of Trump and his allies. They described concerns surrounding Moreno’s candidacy as so acute that some party officials sought a review of data to determine his potential involvement.
That review, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, linked the profile to Moreno’s work email address.
The AP’s independent review reached the same conclusion. The AP obtained data from the Adult Friend Finder leak as well as information that remains publicly accessible on the company’s website. An analysis of those records show the profile was created and authenticated by someone who had access to Moreno’s work email account.
Beyond the work email, the profile lists Moreno’s correct date of birth, while geolocation data indicates that the account was set up for use in a part of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where property records show Moreno’s parents owned a home at the time. The account’s username — nardo19672 — appears to refer to Moreno’s full first name, Bernardo, as well as the year and month of his birth in February 1967.
“This is a telling example of how this data doesn’t just go away,” said Jake Williams, a prominent cybersecurity researcher and a former National Security Agency offensive hacker who independently confirmed that Moreno’s work email address was included in a copy of the leaked data from Adult Friend Finder.
Harder also provided a statement from Helder Rosa, a former vice president for Bernie Moreno Companies, that said Ricci was an intern in November 2008 and that people in such roles had duties that included checking emails. Rosa has donated $12,400 to Moreno’s two campaigns for Senate, according to campaign finance records. He didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Moreno, 57, was born in Colombia to a wealthy family before immigrating to Florida as a child and becoming a U.S. citizen at the age of 18, according to a biography on his website. He purchased his first car dealership in 2005 and used his wealth to build an empire that came to include high-end dealerships in multiple states.
Shifting views
And before Moreno began articulating anti-LGBTQ views during his runs for public office, he made comments that seemed to reflect acceptance of homosexuality.
When Cleveland and Akron won their bid to host the 2014 Gay Games, an Olympics-like international competition featuring LGBTQ athletes, Moreno was an enthusiastic supporter while his auto dealership company was a financial sponsor, according to an opinion article he wrote for the business publication Crain’s Cleveland Business.
“A successful Gay Games would go a long way toward boosting our images as cities that welcome all,” Moreno wrote while issuing a call for northeast Ohio’s philanthropic community to rally behind the event. “They need help to put them on. Hosting a complex multi-venue event requires a network of financial supporters and volunteers. It must be a community effort.”
During a 2016 question and answer session posted to his company’s YouTube page, Moreno noted that his eldest son is gay, while crediting the TV show “Modern Family” with changing perceptions about same-sex marriage.
“We watched these two guys and, we say: ’You know what? They’re good guys, they’re great people. ... They are not this distorted thing that is out there.’ And I think those are the kinds of ways that you can break down stereotypes,” Moreno said during the event.
When fliers appeared on the campus of Cleveland State University in October 2017 urging gay and transgender students to commit suicide, Moreno, who was then chairman of the school’s board of trustees, was the leading signer of a letter condemning the “abhorrent message” as “an attack on our whole campus.”
As recently as 2020, his companies were included on a list of Ohio businesses that supported a law banning discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Leaders of Equality Ohio, a leading LGBTQ rights group in the state, said Moreno joined the campaign supporting the legislation after a conversation with the organization’s leadership in 2017 during event promoting the bill.
But that all appeared to change when Moreno first ran for Senate in 2021 before bowing out of the race early. He began to distance himself from his past activism, professing to be unfamiliar with the anti-discrimination legislation, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported at the time.
During his current Senate campaign, Moreno has accused advocates for LGBTQ rights of advancing a “radical” agenda of “indoctrination.” He is endorsed by Ohio Value Voters, a group that opposes LGBTQ rights, including same-sex marriage. And his campaign’s social media accounts have blasted his opponents, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and State Sen. Matt Dolan, as supporters of a “radical trans agenda.”
A recent TV ad paid for by Buckeye Values, a pro-Moreno super PAC, superimposes a picture of LaRose over a rainbow flag while attacking him as “a champion for trans equality.” The ad cites LaRose’s past endorsement for a bill — which Moreno’s company previously supported — that would have banned discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
“Can you trust Frank LaRose?” a narrator asks, while also criticizing LaRose for making favorable statements in the past about Equality Ohio, a prominent gay rights group. Moreno supported the same legislation through his companies.
Donald Trump Jr. later posted the ad to X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, stating “I have no doubt” Ohio voters will elect “the real conservative @berniemoreno over leftwing, pro-trans Frank LaRose.”
Moreno’s shifting rhetoric on LGBTQ issues “is a real shame,” said Maria Bruno, the public policy director for Equality Ohio, which advocates for LGBTQ rights. ”Anyone who is going to be compromising their value system just to win an election, they lose a lot of credibility.”
And before Moreno began articulating anti-LGBTQ views during his runs for public office, he made comments that seemed to reflect acceptance of homosexuality.
When Cleveland and Akron won their bid to host the 2014 Gay Games, an Olympics-like international competition featuring LGBTQ athletes, Moreno was an enthusiastic supporter while his auto dealership company was a financial sponsor, according to an opinion article he wrote for the business publication Crain’s Cleveland Business.
“A successful Gay Games would go a long way toward boosting our images as cities that welcome all,” Moreno wrote while issuing a call for northeast Ohio’s philanthropic community to rally behind the event. “They need help to put them on. Hosting a complex multi-venue event requires a network of financial supporters and volunteers. It must be a community effort.”
During a 2016 question and answer session posted to his company’s YouTube page, Moreno noted that his eldest son is gay, while crediting the TV show “Modern Family” with changing perceptions about same-sex marriage.
“We watched these two guys and, we say: ’You know what? They’re good guys, they’re great people. ... They are not this distorted thing that is out there.’ And I think those are the kinds of ways that you can break down stereotypes,” Moreno said during the event.
When fliers appeared on the campus of Cleveland State University in October 2017 urging gay and transgender students to commit suicide, Moreno, who was then chairman of the school’s board of trustees, was the leading signer of a letter condemning the “abhorrent message” as “an attack on our whole campus.”
As recently as 2020, his companies were included on a list of Ohio businesses that supported a law banning discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Leaders of Equality Ohio, a leading LGBTQ rights group in the state, said Moreno joined the campaign supporting the legislation after a conversation with the organization’s leadership in 2017 during event promoting the bill.
But that all appeared to change when Moreno first ran for Senate in 2021 before bowing out of the race early. He began to distance himself from his past activism, professing to be unfamiliar with the anti-discrimination legislation, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported at the time.
During his current Senate campaign, Moreno has accused advocates for LGBTQ rights of advancing a “radical” agenda of “indoctrination.” He is endorsed by Ohio Value Voters, a group that opposes LGBTQ rights, including same-sex marriage. And his campaign’s social media accounts have blasted his opponents, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and State Sen. Matt Dolan, as supporters of a “radical trans agenda.”
A recent TV ad paid for by Buckeye Values, a pro-Moreno super PAC, superimposes a picture of LaRose over a rainbow flag while attacking him as “a champion for trans equality.” The ad cites LaRose’s past endorsement for a bill — which Moreno’s company previously supported — that would have banned discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
“Can you trust Frank LaRose?” a narrator asks, while also criticizing LaRose for making favorable statements in the past about Equality Ohio, a prominent gay rights group. Moreno supported the same legislation through his companies.
Donald Trump Jr. later posted the ad to X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, stating “I have no doubt” Ohio voters will elect “the real conservative @berniemoreno over leftwing, pro-trans Frank LaRose.”
Moreno’s shifting rhetoric on LGBTQ issues “is a real shame,” said Maria Bruno, the public policy director for Equality Ohio, which advocates for LGBTQ rights. ”Anyone who is going to be compromising their value system just to win an election, they lose a lot of credibility.”
___
Associated Press data journalist Larry Fenn contributed to this report from New York.
Associated Press data journalist Larry Fenn contributed to this report from New York.
Bernie Moreno running for Senate as outsider, but public entities he served boosted his business
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — In his bid for U.S. Senate in Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno has cast himself in the mold of former President Donald Trump, who has endorsed him: that of “political outsider.”
“I’m the only outsider in the race. I’m the only one that has created businesses,” Moreno, a wealthy businessman from Cleveland, told Buckeye Patriots podcast host Joe Miller in October. “I’m the only one who is not part of the political system.”
But Moreno has, at times, served on the inside. Shortly before he entered politics, he sat on two government boards — one in Columbus, one in Cleveland. An Associated Press review found that each of those public entities boosted Moreno’s blockchain business while he served.
Moreno faces Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan in next month’s Republican primary. The winner will face third-term U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, viewed as among the nation’s most vulnerable Democrats, in November.
Moreno’s campaign says he was recruited to the executive committee of InnovateOhio, a state government technology initiative, and to the board of MetroHealth, Cleveland’s public hospital system, “because they wanted the perspective of a political outsider and successful businessman.” Both positions were unpaid.
“He didn’t make a cent from them and was donating his time, energy, and business expertise because he wanted to serve his community,” spokesman Conor McGuinness said in a statement. “His companies made a grand total of $0.00 as a result of his work.”
That isn’t to say Moreno walked away empty-handed. When he cashed out his shares in blockchain company Ownum in April 2023, in order to avoid conflicts of interest, Moreno reported they were worth at least $5 million. Some of the company’s earliest votes of confidence had come from InnovateOhio and MetroHealth.
Moreno was appointed to the InnovateOhio Executive Board by Lt. Gov. Jon Husted in April 2019. Moreno had stood beside Husted and Republican Gov. Mike DeWine as the new office was announced the previous September, and was a featured guest at their technology-themed inaugural celebration that January.
Moreno and Husted already had a history. Across 10 years beginning in 2007, when Husted was speaker of the Ohio House and a Republican rising star, Moreno contributed a combined $20,000 to his political campaigns, state campaign finance reports show. Moreno gave another $25,000 to the DeWine-Husted for Ohio gubernatorial campaign in June 2018 — shortly after Ownum was incorporated.
Ownum was in the business of developing technology products that could replace paper-based government processes through digitization. At the time of Moreno’s appointment, the company had just announced its first product: a paperless blockchain option for vehicle titling, called CHAMPtitles. Moreno already had made it known that Ownum would be pitching CHAMPtitles to Ohio, among other states.
Fast-forward to December 2019. In an address at the Blockland Solutions Conference in Cleveland, Husted said that InnovateOhio working groups had identified the Bureau of Motor Vehicles as the first place the state would try out blockchain technology, which generates “blocks” of information or transactions into ledgers that are secure and transparent. Husted said the office had received a “proposal” — he didn’t mention from whom — for the state to work with the private sector to modify Ohio’s vehicle titling system. CHAMPtitles tweeted the “exciting news.”
“We are live in Ohio,” Ownum’s then-CEO Shane Bigelow would proclaim in a Cincinnati Business Journal interview about a year later. He told the publication that Husted “navigated the circumstances exceedingly well” and brought paperless titles into the state. He said Ohio was “a first mover” on the technology and Ownum now hoped to become “a 50-state solution.” Neighboring West Virginia announced it would become the first state to take its car titling fully digital through CHAMPtitles in 2022.
Something like Husted’s backing — or the later support of MetroHealth’s CEO — held potential financial benefits for the company, said Jonah Berger, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “It can almost act as a signal of quality,” he said, to other states, governors or hospital systems considering the product.
“If it’s a new company that nobody’s ever heard of before, either affiliations with people that others trust, or endorsements from people that others trust, can sometimes be beneficial,” he said.
Husted’s spokeswoman, Hayley Carducci, said InnovateOhio aims to make Ohio “the most innovative, entrepreneurial state in the Midwest” and its executive committee “is advisory in nature and has no standing in the determination of state contracting.”
“Bernie Moreno is no longer on the advisory board but was originally included because of his expertise in tech and business,” she said in a statement.
McGuinness said it’s “laughable” to suggest serving on such boards makes Moreno any less of a political outsider, casting Brown, LaRose and Dolan all as “career politicians.”
“Just like any number of political outsiders -- President Trump, Senator JD Vance, Vivek Ramaswamy, to name a few -- Bernie’s successful business career made his perspective incredibly sought after by any number of organizations,” he said.
In Cleveland, Democratic Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish nominated Moreno to the MetroHealth board of trustees in September 2019. Moreno had donated $5,000 to Budish’s re-election bid in July 2018, county campaign finance records show. Budish did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Then-Cuyahoga County Council member Shontel Brown, now a Democratic congresswoman, told The Plain Dealer at the time that it was abnormal that Moreno didn’t attend his own confirmation hearing. She also said the process was rushed at the request of MetroHealth’s then-CEO Dr. Akram Boutros, who wanted Moreno confirmed ahead of the health system’s October board meeting.
That was the month Ownum’s second product, Vital Chain — which provided blockchain birth and death certificates — landed MetroHealth as its first client. Boutros promoted the pilot project in a subsequent public announcement as “a huge leap for public health efforts, such as those designed to combat infant mortality.”
MetroHealth said the deal had been in the works since late 2018 and that Moreno disclosed it as a conflict at the time he joined the board. Ultimately, no work was conducted.
Moreno stepped down from the health system’s board in February 2021 ahead of his first Senate run. Boutros was fired in 2022.
McGuinness said Moreno’s campaign contributions to Husted and Budish joined “hundreds of thousands of dollars (he has donated) to countless Republican candidates and causes across Ohio and throughout the nation” and played no role in either appointment.
https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-senate-ohio-bernie-moreno-sherrod-brown-a7bdca8b7caf1d7facbf3349e6dc8e9d
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