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The Guardian: ‘He’s Lying’: Ohio Senate Candidate Blames Staffers And Family For Errors

Columbus, OH – New reporting today from The Guardian highlights Bernie Moreno’s pattern of refusing to take responsibility for his record of “stiffing workers” and telling “lie after lie” to Ohioans. This is the latest example of Moreno only looking out for himself – from refusing to pay his employees their overtime wages and deliberately destroying evidence to get out of paying them what they were owed, to “falsely claim[ing]” that he earned an MBA from the University of ❌ichigan, to failing to pay his taxes.

The Guardian: ‘He’s lying’: Ohio Senate candidate blames staffers and family for errors
Martin Pengelly
October 21, 2024

• Bernie Moreno, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Ohio, came to the US from Colombia at the age of four. He has said he learned English through Ronald Reagan’s speeches. That claim has been questioned…

• Throughout a tight race – in which defeat for Sherrod Brown, the incumbent Democrat, could decide control of the Senate – Moreno has displayed a distinctly un-Reaganlike tendency to dodge responsibility for questions about his own actions, choosing repeatedly to blame others instead, a review of reporting and court documents shows.

• Last month, after Moreno was shown to have falsely claimed to hold an MBA from the University of Michigan, including signing legal documents containing the claim, his campaign blamed “a staffer who made a mistake”.

• Bill DeMora, an Ohio state senator, said: “The new reports that prove he is lying about having an MBA from that school up north are disqualifying. Anyone who lies about having a made-up-business degree from Michigan has no business representing Ohioans.”

• The episode of the phantom MBA is not the only one in which Moreno has blamed others for alleged missteps.

• Also in September, as Brown faced reporting about his late payment of property taxes, Politico reported that “a trust belonging in part to the wealthy Republican Senate candidate [Moreno] was more than a year late on paying a $20,000 tax bill on a house that it owns” in Key Largo, Florida, “leading to the issuance of a lien in June 2023”.

• The debt was paid the day of the report, Politico said. A spokesperson for Moreno said the error was not his fault.

• “Bernie does not manage the finances related to the house,” Reagan McCarthy said. “One of his siblings does and it was an unfortunate oversight.”

• In January, multiple outlets reported a Massachusetts case from 2017 in which Moreno was sued for non-payment of overtime at his auto company. According to court records, a judge said Moreno “either did not retain or shredded … monthly reports” that he “knew or should have known” he was required to keep. Ultimately, a jury found Moreno liable for withholding wages and ordered him to pay $416,160 in damages.

• Primary opponents raised the issue. Moreno claimed political bias, calling the jury in the case “ridiculous” and the judge “a Harvard elitist lunatic”. The judge in question was appointed by Republicans.

• Moreno also blamed the plaintiffs, whom he called “two of my worst salespeople, the guys that never even showed up on time, who didn’t punch in or punch out, who had no proof that they worked overtime”, and blamed the overtime pay issue on a staff member who he said “actually managed payroll”. In court, the staffer testified that she had not been responsible for such matters.

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Columbus, OH – It’s been another terrible week for Bernie Moreno as he continues to face scrutiny for making multiple false claims about the “at least 50” lawsuits he’s faced, including lawsuit after lawsuit for mistreating his employees. Plus, Ohioans are learning they can’t trust Moreno to lower costs – from Moreno “invest[ing] in firms and funds” that “benefit financially as housing grows more expensive” to supporting overturning the Affordable Care Act, which would put 857,000 Ohioans at risk of facing higher health care costs.

NEED-TO-KNOW THIS WEEK:

• Bernie Moreno has faced lawsuit after lawsuit for mistreating his employees and has been scrutinized for making multiple false claims about the “at least 50” lawsuits he’s faced.

• New reporting revealed Bernie Moreno “is invested in firms and funds” that “benefit financially as housing grows more expensive” and is contributing to “raising rents” for Ohioans.

• In an unreported radio interview, Bernie Moreno blamed Republicans for failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

• Bernie Moreno is still under fire for “mocking” Ohio women and supporting a national abortion ban that will overturn the will of Ohioans who voted to protect abortion rights last year.

🚗 HOW MANY TIMES DID MORENO LIE ABOUT HIS LAWSUITS?: Bernie Moreno has made multiple false claims about his record of screwing workers and the “at least 50” lawsuits he’s faced – including a dozen lawsuits for refusing to pay his employees what they were owed and deliberately destroying evidence he was legally required to keep to get out of paying them.

🤑 MORENO BENEFITED FROM RISING HOUSING COSTS: New reporting from the Ohio Capital Journal revealed Bernie Moreno “is invested in firms and funds” that “benefit financially as housing grows more expensive” and is contributing to “raising rents” for Ohioans. Plus, Moreno continues to face scrutiny for being “heavily invested” in a family enrichment scheme with his brothers that funneled U.S. taxpayer money into banks that financed projects his family oversaw.

🏥 OHIOANS CAN NOT AFFORD MORENO: During an unreported radio interview, Bernie Moreno blamed Republicans for “block[ing]” the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. This is the latest example of Moreno “criticiz[ing]” the ACA and making it clear that he would vote to repeal it, putting 857,000 Ohioans at risk of losing their health care coverage and facing higher costs while also jeopardizing care for nearly 2 million Ohioans with a pre-existing condition.  

Bernie Moreno: “We would have replaced [the Affordable Care Act] had it not been for again, Republicans… It’s Republicans that go along with Democrats that block the conservative agenda.”

🚫 MORENO MOCKED OHIOANS:  Bernie Moreno continues to draw “ire” from Ohioans for his comments “mocking” Ohio women and calling them “a little crazy” for wanting to make their own health care decisions. Moreno supports a national abortion ban which would overturn “the reproductive rights amendment passed by a majority of [Ohio] voters.”

🗞️ WHAT OHIOANS ARE READING THIS WEEK:

• Huffington Post: “Up until a few years ago, Moreno, 57, owned an empire of two dozen luxury dealerships across several states that sold BMWs, Porches and other foreign brands… [Moreno’s business record] paint him as a slippery car salesman who, according to a 2017 wage theft suit, stiffed one of his workers on overtime and lied about never selling cars made in China.”

• Dayton Daily News: “… Moreno was sanctioned by the judge for destroying overtime records that he was ordered to keep. In 2022 the jury in that case found against Moreno and he was ordered to pay $416,160 to the employees, according to WKYC-TV in Cleveland. Moreno later settled more than a dozen similar lawsuits over the same issue.”

• Marty Schladen, Ohio Capital Journal: “[Moreno’s] invested with a real-estate mogul who boasted that raising rents by $100 would make a 500-unit building worth $11 million more.”

• Ohio Capital Journal: “According to his personal financial disclosure, Moreno is invested in firms and funds engaged in large-scale real estate speculation… investors do benefit financially as housing grows more expensive.”

• Associated Press: “A woman featured in one TV ad wondered why, if a 50-year-old woman doesn’t have standing to feel strongly about abortion, a 57-year-old man — that’s Moreno’s age — running for Senate would.”

• Jezebel: “In the letter, the women point to Moreno’s insulting comments from September in which he characterized women as “a bit crazy” for caring about abortion rights.”

• Washington Examiner: “Abortion has a major influence in the Ohio Senate race… particularly in recent days after Moreno drew ire for a comment he made criticizing women whose votes were driven by government involvement in abortion during a town hall in September.”

🐤 TWEET OF THE WEEK:

🎶 CODA: “Hey Bernie Moreno: Ohio women over 50 care about women’s reproductive rights; and we vote.”

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Columbus, OH – Bernie Moreno has faced lawsuit after lawsuit for mistreating his employees and has been scrutinized for making multiple false claims about the “at least 50” lawsuits he’s faced – including a dozen lawsuits for refusing to pay his employees what they were owed and deliberately destroying evidence he was legally required to keep to get out of paying them.

Five Times Bernie Moreno Lied To Ohioans About His Record Of Mistreating Workers:

1. MORENO: “In Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Supreme Court changed [the law] and then made that ruling retroactive… but [the media] keep reporting it as wage theft… And then after I looked at it, I threw it away. The judge said, ‘Well, you should have kept that document.’ Well, I didn’t realize that that document had anything to do with this…” [52:15, 09/05/24]

2. MORENO: “[Moreno’s employees] claimed that they worked overtime, they had no proof of it. The judge didn’t like the fact that we were even trying the case so he tried everything possible to prejudice the jury, including telling them that we destroyed documents which is absolutely not true.” [05:26, 9/11/24]

3. MORENO: “[The Massachusetts Supreme Court] ruled that, in Massachusetts, commission salespeople are entitled to overtime… they went backwards and said, ‘hey, if you don’t agree with our interpretation of wage law, you owe all this overtime’… if you put radical lunatics in these courts, they’re going to destroy this country.” [02:39, 9/14/24]

4. MORENO: “… ​​the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that commission salespeople are entitled to overtime… they made the ruling retroactive, which was totally insane.” [03:09, 9/16/24]

5. MORENO: “Well, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that they should be entitled to overtime… Unfortunately, the lunatics in Massachusetts made that ruling retroactive.” [14:09, 09/23/24]

Read The Truth About The Lawsuits Clouding Moreno’s Campaign:

• Business Insider: Trump-backed Ohio Senate candidate shredded documents as he faced a lawsuit accusing him of wage theft

• WKYC: No, Bernie Moreno’s claims that Massachusetts courts overturned federal law in wage theft lawsuits and made rulings retroactive are not true: VERIFY

• WKYC: How many times was Ohio US Senate candidate Bernie Moreno sued during his business career? VERIFY

• Cleveland.com: Bernie Moreno got sued by an employee who said he didn’t get paid what he was promised. Here’s what happened.

• Mother Jones: Bernie Moreno Owed a Contractor $300K—Then Ignored Legal Rulings to Promptly Pay Up

• Mother Jones: A GOP Senate Candidate Blames “Liberal” Judges for His Labor Violations. Just One Problem With That. The Judges Were Largely Appointed By Republicans.

• The Daily Beast: This GOP Senate Hopeful Bernie Moreno’s Self-Made Story Has a Darker Side

• Mahoning Matters: Mahoning, Trumbull union members discuss Bernie Moreno’s anti-worker allegations

• Spectrum News: Bernie Moreno’s business record takes center stage in Senate bid

• Spectrum News: Senate candidate Bernie Moreno sold SUVs made in China for years, but tells Ohio voters he refused to do so

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Columbus, OH-  In case you missed it, reporting from the Ohio Capital Journal highlighted how Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose shared an “exclusive announcement” on election integrity with Ohio Right to Life, an extreme anti-abortion group. 

In the video, LaRose describes how elections in Ohio are run- information that should be available to all Ohioans, not shared first with extremist groups that backed his campaign. He’s previously described his role as Secretary of State as an impartial “referee” but this latest move shows he’s anything, but.

And this isn’t the first time LaRose has brought blatantly extreme and partisan activity into the Secretary of State’s office. Last year, he openly admitted that he consulted with Right to Life and other extreme anti-abortion groups to set the ballot language to describe the constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights in Ohio’s constitution. Unsurprisingly, it was biased and inaccurate. 

“We’re less than a month from a historic election and our Secretary of State is spending his time giving exclusives to extreme anti-choice groups,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “At this point, it’s not really surprising that LaRose is more interested in playing politics than serving Ohioans, but voters deserve better from their Secretary of State.

Bernie Moreno: “We Would Have Replaced [The Affordable Care Act] Had It Not Been For Again, Republicans.”

Columbus, OH – In an unreported radio interview, Bernie Moreno blamed Republicans for failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act. This is the latest example of Moreno making it clear that he would vote to repeal the ACA, putting 857,000 Ohioans at risk of losing their health care coverage and facing higher costs while also jeopardizing care for nearly 2 million Ohioans with a pre-existing condition. 

What Ohioans Need To Know About Moreno’s Plans To Put Ohioans’ Health Care In Jeopardy:

• *NEW* During an unreported radio interview, Bernie Moreno blamed Republicans for “block[ing]” the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Bernie Moreno: “We would have replaced [the Affordable Care Act] had it not been for again, Republicans… It’s Republicans that go along with Democrats that block the conservative agenda.”

• Moreno has “criticized” the ACA, saying it has “zero to do with affordability” and “m[ade] health care much more expensive.”

• Moreno also opposes the bill that capped insulin costs for seniors and allowed Medicare to negotiate drug prices to lower drug costs.

• Ohioans know that Moreno would “strip health care access” away from Ohioans and that he “opposed the bill that has lowered prescription drug prices for Ohioans” because he sides with special interests, not Ohioans.

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