Ohio‘s 2024 Senate hopeful Bernie Moreno was cleared of having an adult website account by the site’s founder Saturday.
Adult Friend Finder founder Andrew Conru debunked an Associated Press report claiming Moreno had an account in 2008. This alleged account claimed to be “looking for young guys to have fun.” The revelation came from a 2016 hack into the site’s data, which Conru apologized for.
“I reviewed all the available information and it showed that the account had only a single visit, no activity, no profile photo, consistent with a prank or someone just checking out the site. That’s it,” Conru wrote on X. “It’s important to recognize that even temporary access to an email account is sufficient to create a fake dating profile in someone else’s name.”
As the founder and someone who wrote most of the early code of Adult Friend Finder, I want to make a short statement on Ohio senator candidate Bernie Moreno’s alleged 2008 connection to the site.
I reviewed all the available information and it showed that the account had only a…
— Andrew Conru (@andrewconru) March 16, 2024
Moreno and his wife, Bridget Moreno, seemingly blamed the report on his top Republican rival state Sen. Matt Dolan. Back in 2022, Dolan ran against Sen. J.D. Vance.
“It’s a sick, 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 reporters ahead of his rally in Dayton.
“My husband and I have known Matt Dolan and his family for years. For him to stoop this low, simply because he’s losing this race is disgusting, disgraceful, and he should be embarrassed. If he’s willing to slander my husband simply to win a political election, he doesn’t belong anywhere near elected office,” Bridget’s statement read.
“His desperate attempts will backfire, and I have full confidence that Ohioans will see through his dirty tricks and elect an actual conservative to the U.S. Senate. Now that this story has proven to be 100% false, if Matt even has an ounce of integrity left in him, he will publicly disavow this slime coming from his family-funded Super PAC,” the statement went on.
Statement from my wife Bridget Moreno on the vile attacks on our family, from the liberal media and Matt Dolan and his allies, that have been debunked. pic.twitter.com/eNqTKRm0Bo
— Bernie Moreno (@berniemoreno) March 16, 2024
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Moreno has snagged the endorsements of former President Donald Trump and Vance, who will make appearances alongside him at his Saturday rally. Additionally, fellow Republican Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), among others, endorsed Moreno over Dolan.
Ohio’s primary election comes on Tuesday.