Tipsheet

AP Admits It Has No Evidence to Back Up Its Smear Piece on GOP Senate Candidate Bernie Moreno

Sarah Arnold
Sarah Arnold  |  March 17, 2024 3:00 PM

The Associated Press is admitting that they have no evidence to back up their claims following a smear campaign article against Ohio Republican Senator candidate Bernie Moreno. 

The outlet reported earlier this week in two different pieces that an email address for Moreno had been used to create an account on Adult Friend Finder in 2008. Both AP pieces claimed that the outlet had obtained the “geolocation data” that connected the creation of Moreno’s Adult Friend Finder account to him. 

“Beyond the work email, the profile lists Moreno’s correct date of birth, while geolocation data indicates that the account was set up for use in a part of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where property records show Moreno’s parents owned a home at the time,” one article read. 

However, the news organization admitted to Breitbart News that it does not have “geolocation data” despite claiming it in two separate articles. 

More from the outlet: 

Recommended

Trump Has a New Attorney General Nominee Matt Vespa
Is This Why Gaetz Withdrew His Name From Consideration for Attorney General? Matt Vespa

So when the Associated Press said it had “geolocation data” associated with the account in question, that would clearly mean that it was saying it had information that the account was created with a specific IP, or internet protocol, address that can be tied to a specific location–something beyond just a zip code provided by whoever created the account. But now it turns out that the AP’s spokeswoman, Easton, is admitting to Breitbart News that the AP did not have anything beyond just that–the supposed “geolocation data” that the AP originally claimed it had was not in fact anything more than what Adult Friend Finder based on what zip code was entered by whoever created the account. That means anyone, anywhere in the world, could have entered that zip code when creating an account, and the so-called “geolocation data” in question would have been exactly the same.

The outlet asked AP if they had any “geolocation data” other than the zip code of the person who made the Adult Friend Finder account with Moreno’s email address. AP said that it did not. 

Moreno’s campaign team said that someone interning for the GOP candidate in 2008 created the profile as a prank. His attorneys provided statements from the person who created the profile, confirming that the intern had access to Moreno’s email account.