WASHINGTON (AP) โ For Republicans eager to regain the Senate majority this year, Ohio offers a prime opportunity to pick up a critical seat.
But ahead of Tuesdayโs primary election, thereโs 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 โ who has shifted from a public supporter of LGBTQ rights to a hardline opponent โ is confronting questions about the existence of a 2008 profile seeking โMen for 1-on-1 sexโ on a casual sexual encounters website called Adult Friend Finder.
โHi, looking for young guys to have fun with while traveling,โ reads a caption on a photo-less profile under the username โnardo19672,โ 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 Morenoโs 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 Morenoโs campaign about the account, the candidateโs 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 โpart of a juvenile prank.โ
โI am thoroughly embarrassed by an aborted prank I pulled on my friend, and former boss, Bernie Moreno, nearly two decades ago,โ Ricci said. The AP couldnโt independently confirm Ricciโs statement and he didnโt immediately respond to messages left for him on multiple phone numbers listed to him. He donated $6,599 to Morenoโs campaign last year, according to campaign finance records.
Morenoโs lawyer, Charles Harder, insisted Morenoโฆ
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