New ads attack Bernie Moreno over report his company email was used to create account on adult website

SALEM, Ohio — It took less than a day for the attacks to begin on Senate candidate Bernie Moreno over a report that his company email address was used to create an account on an adult website that sought “young guys to have fun with.”

Buckeye Leadership Fund, a super PAC supporting his GOP primary rival Matt Dolan, on Friday began airing TV and radio ads statewide, a spokesperson said, that quote directly from The Associated Press story and call Moreno “creepy” and “damaged goods.”

“Breaking news: A new AP report suggests that Bernie Moreno, a married man, trawled the internet ‘seeking men for one-on-one sex,’ ‘looking for young guys to have fun with while traveling,’” the TV ad narrator says while corresponding excerpts of the story appear on screen above the caption, “Moreno embroiled in scandal.”

Moreno has forcefully denied creating the account in 2008 on Adult Friend Finder, a website typically used to arrange sexual encounters. Moreno said a former intern created the account as a prank. Charles Harder, a lawyer for Moreno, said in a statement that the email address was a public-facing one managed by staff, not Moreno’s personal email. He provided a copy of a signed letter from the former intern, Dan Ricci, taking responsibility for the creation of the account.

It wasn’t immediately clear where the ads were running. Lawyers for Moreno sent cease-and-desist letters Friday to TV and radio stations, with some responding that they would not run the ad, according to emails reviewed by POLITICO.

A spokesperson for the pro-Dolan super PAC said the new spots are part of a larger ad buy but declined to give a specific amount for the two ads. The group has spent over $7 million, the spokesperson said.

That’s a lot more than the $2.2 million it reported raising as of the latest Federal Election Commission reports in late February, when the bulk of the group’s money had been funded by Dolan’s parents: Eva and Larry Dolan, who own the Cleveland Guardians baseball team, each gave $1 million in December.

Dolan, who by law is not allowed to coordinate with the super PAC, said Friday evening that he was unaware of the new TV ad.

Moreno’s wife, Bridget Moreno, blasted what she called “dirty tricks.” She said Dolan has known her and her husband “for decades.”

“If Matt even has an ounce of integrity left in him, he will publicly disavow this slime coming from his allies,” she said in a statement provided by the campaign.

Dolan, Moreno and Secretary of State Frank LaRose are in a heated three-way battle for the right to take on Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Ohio is a top target for Republicans in their drive to recapture the Senate majority, and Thursday night’s publication of the AP story — days before next Tuesday’s primary election — threatened to plunge an already-nasty race into further chaos.

The three candidates found themselves seated next to each other at the head table of a GOP dinner Friday night in Columbiana County. They did not stay seated for long and quickly got up to work the room before the programming began.

Asked by reporters about the AP article, Dolan declined to take a shot at Moreno.

“I got to focus on me,” Dolan said when asked about the AP story, adding: “I’m gonna focus on my race.”

LaRose went further when asked by reporters for his response to the article.

“I've been saying from the beginning that I don't think Mr. Moreno is trustworthy,” he said. “I've said that and I'm not going to say much more about it other than obviously, if that's true, it's a horrible thing for his family and I keep them in our prayers.”

Moreno on Friday sought to quickly move past the report, proceeding with campaign events without mentioning it in his public remarks. When asked by reporters, he dismissed the article as “a sick, last-minute attack by desperate people.” Former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Moreno, continued to stand by him, with a planned rally in Ohio to support Moreno still on for Saturday.

“We’ve been at this for six weeks. So obviously, we now know what happened,” Moreno said Friday morning at a campaign stop. “It’s 16 years ago. Somebody pulled a prank … why is that a story? It’s a story because President Trump endorsed me.”

Still, the story has raised concerns in some national GOP circles about Moreno’s vulnerability in the general election, and Moreno’s explanation doesn’t fully quell them, according to a Republican strategist unaffiliated in the race. Moreno’s campaign has been reassuring Republicans for weeks that the email address associated with the Adult Friend Finder account was never used to confirm it, the strategist said.

And before the AP story published, a PAC tied to Senate Democrats began spending more than $3 million to produce and air an ad to boost Moreno, a sign they believe he is the weakest foil for Brown. Friday’s ads from the pro-Dolan super PAC note that cross-party meddling, saying “Sherrod Brown will defeat Bernie Moreno.”

The AP only reported that someone with access to Moreno’s email created the account. POLITICO has not independently verified the reporting.

Burgess Everett and Alex Isenstadt contributed to this report.