Republican Ohio Senate candidate Bernardo “Bernie” Moreno blasts a bombshell report linking him to a profile on an adult website as “salacious lies intended as a last-minute smear campaign” just days before the competitive primaries in Ohio.
The Associated Press report found that Moreno’s email was related to the creation of a 2008 profile on the website Adult Friend Finder for a user “looking for young boys to have fun with while traveling.”
The email address used, bernie@clevelandporsche.com, was also reportedly listed next to his name on the website of a car dealership he owned. The account was connected to username ‘nardo19672.’
The profile created under that email indicated interest in ‘Men for 1-on-1 sex’ and selected ‘prefer not to say’ for marital status.
The report came just days before former President Trump was scheduled to travel to Ohio to campaign with the 57-year-old Moreno, who is in the middle of a tough three-way race.
‘It’s a sickening last minute attack by desperate people. This is what they do. Look at what they did to Judge Kavanuagh, look at what they did to President Trump,” Moreno told Politico on Friday after a campaign event.
Moreno is married to wife Bridget and has four adult children.
According to an AP report, Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno’s email was linked to an adult website profile from 2008. Moreno labeled the report a “sick” attack
Former President Trump endorsed Bernie Moreno in the Ohio Republican Senate primary
Moreno’s lawyer said the 2008 AFF account was created as a prank by an intern using a publicly available email address and that Moreno had nothing to do with it.
The AP confirmed that someone with access to Moreno’s email account created the profile, but could not confirm that the profile was created by Moreno himself.
In response to the AP report, Moreno’s attorney, Charles Harder, said a former intern created the account as a prank 16 years ago and left it the same day. He insisted Moreno had nothing to do with it.
“We have provided AP with a copy of a signed letter from that intern admitting this, as well as another signed letter from a former vice president of Mr. Moreno’s company confirming this intern’s employment at the time that the account in question was created,” Harder said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
He noted that the email appeared on the company’s website, not Moreno’s personal website.
“According to the metadata, the AFF account was never even used – no communications or contacts were sent to or from other AFF accounts, and no photos or content were uploaded to it,” he continued. “The AFF account existed for less than half a day, sixteen years ago.”
In a letter to DailyMail.com, former intern Dan Ricci said he was “thoroughly embarrassed by an aborted prank I pulled on my friend and former boss, Bernie Moreno, almost twenty years ago.”
He continued, “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that this stupid joke would be used years later to harm my dear friend.”
Former President Trump will visit the state on Saturday ahead of the March 19 primaries. He endorsed Moreno earlier this year.
Moreno, a businessman who owned car dealerships, has touted Trump’s coveted endorsement that could help him cross the finish line in the three-way race.
Moreno told Politico that he had not discussed the story with Trump, and the former president’s campaign said in a statement that Trump was not reconsidering support for Moreno.
“The left-wing media is obsessed with destroying anyone who supports the America First movement, and this ridiculous slime job is simply proof that Bernie Moreno is a threat to the entire swamp,” said Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesman. He said the report was “shameful” and “embarrassing”.
A Republican strategist in the state said he still expects Moreno to win “narrowly” despite the AP report, and that Trump’s arrival in Ohio for a rally will be a major factor.
Moreno (right) with Frank LaRose (center) and Matt Dolan (left) at a forum on February 19
Moreno is in a tight race with Sen. Matt Dolan, who is backed by the governor, and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose for the Republican Senate nomination to face Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in November.
The Senate race in the red-leaning state is expected to be one of the most competitive in November and a Republican Party victory there could play a key role in helping Republicans regain the Senate majority .
Moreno and Dolan have already poured millions of their own money into the primaries. According to ad tracking, there are already $142 million in ad bookings for the fall.