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Columbus, OH – Bernie Moreno has faced “more than 50 lawsuits,” including over a dozen for refusing to pay his employees the overtime they had earned and deliberately destroying the evidence to get out of paying them.

Refresh Your Memory On The Lawsuit After Lawsuit Moreno Has Faced:

• *NEW* Cleveland.com: Senate hopeful Bernie Moreno’s falling out with a billionaire mentor led to legal battle, move to Ohio

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

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

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

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

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

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

• 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.

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

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Business Insider: “[Moreno’s Campaign] Deploy[s] A Gadget That Appears To Emit An Ultrasonic Frequency That Drowns Out Audio Recording Devices With A Strange Noise.”

Columbus, OH – Bernie Moreno is again under fire – this time for purchasing an anti-recording device to “make it much more difficult to capture his words” after he was caught calling Ohio women “a little crazy” for wanting to make their own health care decisions. Moreno is facing more scrutiny for “stop[ping] people from being able to record anything that [he] says” because he “can’t guarantee” he won’t make comments “mocking” Ohioans.

WATCH MORE FROM THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW HERE

Rachel Maddow, MSNBC: Mr. Moreno, last month, told a town hall quote, ‘you know, my rules, nothing is off limits. If you want to tape, record, videotape anything, I say, you’re welcome to do that. Record everything I say, nothing to hide. Tape me.’ Of course, that was before somebody at one of Bernie Moreno’s town halls actually did record him…”

Bernie Moreno: “A lot of suburban women that are like ‘listen, abortion is it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.’ Ok, a little crazy, by the way. But, especially for women that are like past 50, I’m thinking to myself, I don’t think that’s an issue for you. Oh, thank God my wife didn’t hear that one.” 

Rachel Maddow, MSNBC: “That piece of tape of Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno saying a woman over 50 has no reason to support abortion rights because, you know, ‘she’s not making babies anymore. So why should we care what she thinks?’ That tape got Mr. Moreno a lot of negative press coverage, as you might imagine. 

“Now, one way for his campaign to avoid that happening again would be for their candidate to just not say stuff like that. Mr. Moreno’s campaign has instead decided on what they think is a better option, a safer option for them. They can’t guarantee he’s not going to say stuff like that, and so they’ve done one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen in politics anywhere. 

“This is a guy asking Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno a question. You can see that the question is being asked. You could hear that the question is being asked, but then a staffer for Bernie Moreno runs up to the guy asking the question and holds a big black box that kind of looks like a speaker in the face of that guy. What is he doing with this black box? The black box puts out an ultrasonic jamming frequency so no one can record any sound anywhere near it, and it makes the audio get all squeaky and muffled so you can’t hear what Bernie Moreno says.”

Read More:

Washington Post: GOP Senate candidate uses anti-recording technology
Azi Paybarah
October 28, 2024

• Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno’s campaign is using an anti-recording device to prevent Democrats from recording him, according to video from the Ohio Democratic Party and a statement from the campaign.

• The Ohio Democratic Party provided to The Washington Post two videos that appear to show Moreno’s campaign using the anti-recording technology.

• In both videos, Moreno can be seen walking as the person recording him tries asking him questions. As Moreno continues walking, a person accompanying Moreno can be seen holding a rectangular box near the camera, after which a low rumbling sound can be heard. The goal appears to be to diminish the audio of the questioner and the candidate, making the video essentially useless.

• A photograph published Thursday by the New York Times appears to show a Moreno campaign staffer holding one such device.

Business Insider: Ohio GOP candidate in key Senate race uses anti-recording tech to combat ‘trackers’
Bryan Metzger
October 25, 2024

• [Bernie Moreno’s] invited event attendees to record him — and recently landed himself in hot water as a result. Now, his campaign is deploying anti-recording technology against “trackers” who try to record him.

• [Moreno] explicitly invited attendees at his events to record him.

• “You know my rules: Nothing’s off limits,” Moreno said at a town hall event in Warren, Ohio in late September, according to a video seen by BI. “If you want to tape record, videotape anything I say, you’re welcome to do that.“

• But Moreno’s campaign has recently begun taking an unusual step to make it much more difficult to capture his words, deploying a gadget that appears to emit an ultrasonic frequency that drowns out audio recording devices with a strange noise.

• In videos and audio recordings provided to Business Insider by the Ohio Democratic Party, staffers for the GOP candidate can be seen holding the device…

• It’s unclear exactly which device the Moreno campaign is using, but it resembles a “Microphone Jammer” available online for roughly $400.

• The campaign’s use of the anti-recording device comes after Moreno was surreptitiously recorded at that same town hall in Warren making comments seen as dismissive of suburban women who prioritize abortion when voting.

• “You know, the left has a lot of single-issue voters,” Moreno said at the event. “Sadly, by the way, there’s a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, ‘Listen, abortion is it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.’ … OK. It’s a little crazy by the way, but — especially for women that are like past 50, I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s an issue for you.'”

• Brown has seized on those comments in the weeks since, casting the former car dealer as unsympathetic toward women in a race where abortion looms large. Former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley even weighed in, writing on X: “Are you trying to lose the election?”

• But by using technology to prevent recording at his events, Moreno has taken a more aggressive posture toward trackers than other candidates typically do, suggesting a desire to hinder his opponents’ ability to record his statements.

SEE ALSO: NEW: After Getting Caught Mocking Ohio Women, Bernie Moreno Purchased Anti-Recording Device To Hide What He Has To Say From Ohioans

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Columbus, OH – With one week until Election Day, there’s one thing Ohioans know about Bernie Moreno: he only looks out for himself. From “stiffing workers” and “destroy[ing] evidence” to get out of paying his employees the wages they earned, to his comments mocking Ohio women for caring about the ability to make their own health care decisions, and supporting a national abortion ban that would overturn the will of Ohioans who voted to protect abortion rights last year, Moreno has made it clear he won’t fight for Ohio.

What To Know About Bernie Moreno:

1. Moreno’s campaign has been “clouded” by a “slew of lawsuits for workers’ wages and workplace discrimination,” including over a dozen lawsuits where Moreno refused to pay his workers the overtime they earned, and deliberately destroyed evidence he was legally required to keep to get out of it. Moreno was found liable for wage theft by a jury – forcing Moreno to pay over $400,000 in damages to his employees and settle over a dozen similar wage theft cases. After he got caught, Moreno repeatedly lied about the case and multiple fact-checks found his excuses “false.” 

2. Moreno called Ohioans “a little crazy” for caring about a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions, said he is “100 percent pro-life with no exceptions,” and would vote for a national abortion ban that would overturn the will of Ohioans. Moreno also called the overturning of Roe v. Wade a “monumental victory,” and opposes protecting a woman’s right to access contraception, including birth control pills. Moreno is endorsed by SBA Pro-Life America, an organization that pledged to only back candidates who support a national abortion ban.

3. Moreno has been caught in lie after lie on the campaign trail and has faced scrutiny for the “string of inconsistencies that have dogged his campaign.” Moreno was caught repeatedly lying about selling the Chinese-made Buick Envision which contributed to “Ohio jobs being shipped overseas,” lying about his phony “rags-to-riches” story as the “signature pitch” of his campaign, and lying about “s[elling] off all of his businesses” while spending nearly $50 million to open a new car dealership. 

4. Moreno opposed the bipartisan bill to secure the border, opposed Sherrod’s bill to crack down on dangerous fentanyl, and said he won’t work across the aisle to fight for Ohio. Moreno opposed the bipartisan border security bill – which was backed by border patrol agents – and said he “would have opposed” the bipartisan FEND Off Fentanyl Act. When asked how he would work across the aisle, Moreno said he “reject[ed]” the question. In response, Moreno was slammed for having “no real interest” in advocating for Ohioans and being “intent on adding to [the] problem” in Washington.

5. Moreno isn’t the self-made outsider he claims to be. Despite claiming he “built his car dealer empire all on his own,” Moreno actually received “much-needed handout[s],” “special favors,” and “financial assistance” and “leveraged his family connections” and the “Moreno Family cash reserves” to enrich himself. Moreno has exploited his insider political connections to boost his businesses and is “heavily invested” in and profited off of a family enrichment scheme with his brothers by funneling U.S. taxpayer money into banks that financed projects his family oversaw.

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Cleveland.com: Senate Hopeful Bernie Moreno’s Falling Out With A Billionaire Mentor Led To Legal Battle, Move To Ohio

Columbus, OH – New reporting from Cleveland.com today revealed Bernie Moreno was sued by his former mentor for stealing “confidential company data.” This is the latest example in “a series of lawsuits that have come to light” against Moreno – who has been sued at least 50 times – including over a dozen lawsuits for refusing to pay his employees the overtime wages they earned and multiple lawsuits for gender and age discrimination.

Cleveland.com: Senate hopeful Bernie Moreno’s falling out with a billionaire mentor led to legal battle, move to Ohio
Jeremy Pelzer
October 28, 2024

• … [Moreno’s] former employer – led by a helicopter-commuting billionaire named Herb Chambers – sued him in 2005, claiming Moreno misappropriated confidential company data and used its resources to poach customers.

• The previously unreported litigation, which Moreno contested and ended in a settlement that was later overturned, is one in a series of lawsuits that have come to light over Moreno’s business practices.

• In legal filings that have surfaced during the campaign, Moreno has been accused of gender and age discrimination. More than a dozen dealership employees sued Moreno over unpaid overtime. Another said Moreno stiffed him on profit sharing he was promised.

• In 1993, Chambers hired Moreno – then a 26-year-old field consultant for Saturn, the now-defunct General Motors car brand – to run one of the dozens of dealerships he owned in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

• During the next 12 years, Moreno rose up into the upper management of Chambers’ company. But in March 2005, Mercedes-Benz approached Moreno about purchasing a small dealership in North Olmsted, Ohio, as part of a company initiative to have more Mercedes dealerships owned by racial minorities.

• A few months later, in July 2005, the Herb Chambers Companies filed a civil lawsuit against Moreno in Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

• The suit claimed Moreno sold about 20 cars through his dealership to Chambers customers in violation of a confidentiality agreement and accused him of “improperly” advertising his Ohio dealership in Massachusetts.

• Years later, more than dozen lawsuits were filed against Moreno by employees at his Burlington dealership, claiming Moreno didn’t pay them overtime. Ultimately, Moreno was ordered to pay two of the workers more than $400,000, and 14 other lawsuits were settled for an undisclosed amount, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

• Moreno and his company or subsidiary also has faced three discrimination lawsuits in Cuyahoga County between 2015 and 2017, according to the Associated Press.

Read More About The Lawsuits Clouding Moreno’s Candidacy:

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

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

• 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

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Columbus, OH– This past week, reporting from Heartland Signal uncovered audio of GOP Congressional candidate Kevin Coughlin calling abortion “yesterday’s news,” in a desperate attempt to run from his support of abortion bans.

During Coughlin’s time in the statehouse, he was laser-focused on dismantling abortion access in Ohio. Coughlin even bragged about his record of anti-abortion votes in the state legislature, saying that he “co-sponsored or voted for every allowable Roe v. Wade state restriction.”

And abortion rights are still under attack for Ohioans. If extreme Republicans with a track record like Coughlin’s gain control of the House of Representatives, they’ll work to pass a national abortion ban that would override the constitutional amendment Ohioans overwhelmingly passed. 

“Coughlin’s callous lack of concern coupled with his dangerous track record on abortion shows voters loud and clear where he really stands,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer.  In just eight days, voters in the 13th Congressional District will make sure that Coughlin’s candidacy is ‘yesterday’s news.’”

Read more about Coughlin’s long-standing history of dangerous and extreme anti-abortion views:

• Coughlin bragged about his over ten year record of anti-abortion votes in the state legislature, saying that he “co-sponsored or voted for every allowable Roe v. Wade state restriction.”

• He is endorsed by Right to Life- an extreme anti-abortion group that opposes all access to abortion care and has pledged to only endorse candidates who oppose access even in cases of rape or incest. They also support extreme restrictions to reproductive care that could restrict access to birth control and IVF. 

• During his time in the statehouse, he co-sponsored and voted for legislation that opposed health care coverage for abortions and voted to restrict access to medication abortion, including mifepristone. 

• He helped elect and is currently supported by the author of Ohio’s extreme, dangerous six week abortion ban without exceptions for rape and incest. 

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