Ohio Republican candidate’s ex-intern says adult site post was a ‘prank’

A former intern to Bernie Moreno, Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate for US Senate in Ohio and a hardline opponent of LGBTQ+ rights, said he wrote as an “aborted prank” a post on the AdultFriendFinder website in which Moreno appeared to look for “young guys to have fun with” and “men for 1-on-1 sex”.

“I am thoroughly embarrassed by an aborted prank I pulled on my friend, and former boss, Bernie Moreno, nearly two decades ago” in late 2008, the former intern, Dan Ricci, said in a statement provided to the Associated Press by Moreno’s lawyer.

Moreno, 57, was born in Colombia, came to the US and made his fortune dealing cars. He is now in a three-way fight for the right to take on the incumbent Democratic senator, Sherrod Brown, at the polls in November.

The seat is seen as a crucial battleground in the fight for the US Senate with Democrats desperate to defend Brown and Republicans believing they can beat him in a state that has turned red in recent elections – a result that would greatly aid them in winning control of the chamber.

The Republican primary takes place on Tuesday. Polling shows a tight race, Moreno in second behind Matt Dolan, a state senator, and ahead of Frank LaRose, the Ohio secretary of state. Brown leads all three but is seen as vulnerable as Republicans seek to take back the Senate, which Democrats hold 51-49.

The same lawyer told the AP, which broke the story on Thursday, Moreno “had nothing to do with the AFF account”, and provided evidence of Ricci’s work as an intern at Bernie Moreno Companies in November 2008.

The AP said it could not contact Ricci but cited records showing he donated $6,599 to Moreno last year. The person who provided evidence of Ricci’s internship was also a Moreno donor, the AP said.

F