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Associated Press: “Moreno sat on two government boards…each of those public entities boosted Moreno’s blockchain business while he served.”

Columbus, OH – Bernie Moreno exploited his “inside” political connections, hefty campaign contributions, and public board appointments to secure government contracts that “boosted” his blockchain businesses – leading Moreno to ultimately cash out for “at least $5 million.” 

AP: Bernie Moreno running for Senate as outsider, but public entities he served boosted his business

February 7, 2024

• But Moreno has, at times, served on the inside. Shortly before he entered politics, he sat on two government boards — one in Columbus, one in Cleveland. An Associated Press review found that each of those public entities boosted Moreno’s blockchain business while he served.”

• When he cashed out his shares in blockchain company Ownum in April 2023 […] Moreno reported they were worth at least $5 million. Some of the company’s earliest votes of confidence had come from InnovateOhio and MetroHealth.

• Moreno was appointed to the InnovateOhio Executive Board by Lt. Gov. Jon Husted in April 2019. 

• Moreno and Husted already had a history….Moreno contributed a combined $20,000 to [Husted’s] political campaigns, state campaign finance reports show. Moreno gave another $25,000 to the DeWine-Husted for Ohio gubernatorial campaign in June 2018 — shortly after Ownum was incorporated.

• At the time of Moreno’s appointment [to InnovateOhio], the company had just announced its first product: a paperless blockchain option for vehicle titling, called CHAMPtitles. Moreno already had made it known that Ownum would be pitching CHAMPtitles to Ohio, among other states.

• Husted said the office had received a “proposal” — he didn’t mention from whom — for the state to work with the private sector to modify Ohio’s vehicle titling system. CHAMPtitles tweeted the “exciting news.”

• Something like Husted’s backing — or the later support of MetroHealth’s CEO — held potential financial benefits for the company…

• …Armond Budish nominated Moreno to the MetroHealth board of trustees in September 2019. Moreno had donated $5,000 to Budish’s re-election bid in July 2018, county campaign finance records show.

• Six months later, Ownum’s second product, Vital Chain — which provided blockchain birth and death certificates — landed MetroHealth as its first client. 

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Columbus, OH – Bernie Moreno has faced ongoing scrutiny and attacks after reports showed he destroyed evidence to get out of paying his employees overtime wages they’d earned. Multiple fact checks have found Moreno’s excuses for committing wage theft “false,” but Moreno keeps lying. 

Here are the facts:

• After being sued by his employees for withholding their wages, Bernie Moreno was forced to admit in a deposition that he destroyed key evidence he was legally required to keep. 

• Moreno was sanctioned by a judge for shredding documents to avoid paying his employees the overtime they earned. 

• Moreno was found liable by a jury for wage theft and was forced to pay over $400,000 in damages – only then did he settle over a dozen wage theft lawsuits before launching his Senate bid. 

• Moreno’s excuse that he lost the jury trial because of “liberal,” “activist,” “lunatic” judges “isn’t true.”

• Moreno made “false claims” that a 2019 Massachusetts court decision “retroactively” required him to pay his employees overtime. The truth is, “nothing new and unexpected was retroactively required of employers, in either court’s verdict. Once the 2015 state regulation went into effect, employers were required to pay for overtime worked.”

READ MORE:

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

• WCMH: Fact check: Did Senate candidate Bernie Moreno shred documents accusing him of wage theft?

• Mother Jones: A GOP Senate Candidate Blames “Liberal” Judges for His Labor Violations. Just One Problem With That.

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

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Columbus, OH – Bernie Moreno, Frank LaRose, and Matt Dolan would overrule Ohioans – who voted overwhelmingly last year to protect reproductive rights – by voting for a national abortion ban. Despite “previously celebrat[ing] the end of Roe v. Wade as a way to send abortion back to the states for voters to decide,” the entire field now says the issue requires federal intervention.

The entire #OHSEN field would overrule Ohioans by voting for a national abortion ban in the Senate:

• Bernie Moreno supports a national abortion ban and does not support exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the mother. At his campaign launch, Bernie Moreno said he is “unapologetically pro-life.”

• Frank LaRose supports a national abortion ban, opposes exceptions for rape or incest, and admitted he colluded with out-of-state special interests to try to ban abortion by rewriting the November ballot language to be intentionally misleading.

• Matt Dolan said he would support a national abortion banandcelebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, calling it “exciting.” 

• Cleveland.com: “One of the debate moderators…asked all three candidates if they view abortion as a federal issue and if so, why. All three said they did, and expressed interest in passing national abortion legislation…”

• WVXU: “And all three — Moreno, LaRose, and State Sen. Matt Dolan of Chagrin Falls — agreed there should be a national abortion ban… It makes you question whether the three GOP candidates were paying attention last November when 57% of Ohio voters who went to the polls voted in favor of a ballot issue enshrining abortion rights in the Ohio constitution.”

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Whether It’s Working To Overrule Ohioans Or Putting Themselves First, None of The Republicans In The #OHSEN Field Are Fighting For Ohioans 

Columbus, OH –  Ahead of tonight’s Republican #OHSEN debate, Ohio Federation of Teachers’ President and Ohio AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Melissa Cropper and Ohio State Representative and OBGYN Dr. Anita Somani discussed how none of the Republican #OHSEN candidates are fighting for Ohioans. 

Whether it’s working to overrule Ohioans by supporting a national abortion ban or putting their interests ahead of Ohio workers, Bernie Moreno, Frank LaRose, and Matt Dolan have made it clear they are more focused on helping themselves than working for Ohioans. 

“All of these out-of-touch millionaires have put themselves ahead of Ohio workers every chance they get – Bernie Moreno was even found liable for wage theft after shredding documents he was legally required to keep to get out of paying his workers the overtime they earned,” said Ohio Federation of Teachers’ President Melissa Cropper. “We can’t trust Moreno, LaRose, or Dolan to fight for Ohio workers because we’ve seen over and over again that they always put their own interests and corporate interests first and workers last.” 

“Bernie Moreno, Frank LaRose, and Matt Dolan have all said they would overrule Ohioans by voting for a national abortion ban in the Senate,” said Dr. Anita Somani, OBGYN and Ohio State Representative. “We protected reproductive rights last November and we have to do it again this November by defeating whichever candidate comes out of the primary next month.”  

Find a recording of the virtual press conference here for media use.

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Wilkinson: “Those Attacks Can Leave A Mark.”

Columbus, OH – On Friday, Howard Wilkinson of WVXU detailed Bernie Moreno’s history of wage theft after reports found that he destroyed evidence he was legally required to keep to get out of paying his employees the overtime they’d earned, along with Moreno’s support of a national abortion ban – which would overrule the majority of Ohioans who voted to protect reproductive rights. 

Moreno continues to be dogged by attacks from his opponents over his history of wage theft and multiple fact checks after repeating lies he knows aren’t true. 

Listen to Howard Wilkinson on WVXU here:

• 0:55: “…Those attacks can leave a mark…”

• 1:54: “Cleveland Television station WKYC and Mother Jones magazine, and others investigated Moreno’s claims, and came to the conclusion that he was falsely saying that the judges in the lawsuit were quote ‘liberal activist’ judges from Harvard and he was admonished by the court for destroying some of the employees’ work records. The judge in the jury trial was, in fact, a Republican judge who had worked in the US attorney’s office in Boston, under President George W. Bush.” 

• 2:31: “[Moreno] would, like the other two Senate candidates, vote for a national abortion ban after saying earlier they believed the 202[2] Dobbs decision left the matter of legalizing abortions up to the states – which Ohio voters did last fall, when they passed an abortion rights amendment last fall by an overwhelming margin.”

SEE ALSO: In Radio Interview, Moreno Repeats Lies He Knows Aren’t True About Wage Theft Lawsuits; 5 Facts About Moreno Destroying Evidence To Get Out Of Paying His Employees Overtime; FACT CHECK: Bernie Moreno’s Defense For Committing Wage Theft Ruled “FALSE”; MUST WATCH CLIP: Bernie Moreno’s Defense For Committing Wage Theft Ruled “FALSE”; New Report Finds Bernie Moreno’s Defense For Destroying Evidence Isn’t True; FACT CHECK: Bernie Moreno Destroyed Evidence He Had “Obligation” To Keep To Get Out Of Paying Employees; GOP Debate Clouded By Reports Moreno Destroyed Evidence: Here Are The Facts; Bernie Moreno Destroyed Key Evidence To Get Out Of Paying His Employees Wages They’d Earned

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