Associated Press Admits to Made-Up Claims in Smearing Bernie Moreno
Is the Associated Press out of its closet of ethical journalism? A revealing story, suppressed by the mainstream media, shows it to be the case as the Associated Press has admitted to making up claims in targeting conservative Senate candidate Bernie Moreno.
Conservative news and commentary site Breitbart exclusively reported on March 16 that the Associated Press (AP) admitted that it has no “geolocation data to back up its smear piece about Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno” despite claiming to have the said data in two published stories. Breitbart cited Lauren Easton, the director of communications at AP, admitting to them that AP does not have the “geopolitical data” in question.
The Breitbart story reminded that AP had published two stories during the past week claiming that Trump-endorsed 2024 Senate candidate from Ohio Bernie Moreno created an account on Adult FriendFinder in 2008. Both AP stories claimed to have geolocation data proving that Moreno created the account on the adult dating site.
But when asked to provide the evidence of geolocation data, AP admitted to Breitbart that it did not have “anything more than what Adult Friend Finder based on what zip code was entered by whoever created the account.”
Despite this bombshell admission, as Breitbart reported, AP says it stands by its story and mainstream media has conveniently ignored it. However, conservatives took notice of AP’s confession and took to social media to slam the smear piece of AP against Moreno. Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell posted on Twitter/X that AP should be sued for knowingly publishing fake news.
Republican Senator from Ohio J.D. Vance called it a major scandal.
Associated Press lives with the infamous history of formally collaborating with the Hitler regime in Nazi Germany during World War II, as recapitulated by Erin Blakemore (April 2016) in Smithsonian Magazine. For a long time, AP was sold as an independent source at the center of the political spectrum. However, its left-leaning editorial policy increasingly came out of the veil over the past decade, particularly during the Trump administration. In October 2020, Jonathan S. Tobin wrote in the New York Post that the progressive bias of the Associated Press is out of control. Criticizing its “Orwellian newspeak,” Tobin wrote:
The AP Stylebook has become an eager recruit for left-wing Democratic activism and the anti-Trump “resistance.”
In its mission statement, the Associated Press writes on its website:
We have a long-standing role setting the industry standard for ethics in journalism. It is our job — more than ever before — to report the news accurately and honestly.
Now in making up claims in it stories about Bernie Moreno, the Associated Press has essentially given away its leftover claim to neutrality in favor of fake news journalism that characterizes many if not most of the liberal news outlets operational today – all serving the same leftist political agenda.
Unless it costs the reporters their job or millions of dollars to the companies they work for the lies will continue.
The media will never be held accountable as long as Socialists are in power, on either side of the aisle.
The issue is an AP story claiming there is an account on a gay dating website for Trump backed right-wing Senatorial candidate Columbian immigrant Bernie Moreno’s name AP claimed came from a FL location where Moreno lives sometimes as proven by geolocation data. There was no geolocation data, that was an error in fact. AP clearly stated, from the beginning, the story is not authenticated back to Moreno (true), but the account exists (true), it’s in his name (true), his email (true), his zip code (true), it came from Florida as Geolocation data showed (the error in fact) and Moreno does live there sometimes (true). He immigrated from Columbia at five, lived in Florida, and now resides in Ohio.
Turns out the location data is actually the zip code entered on the account. Account owners can enter any zip code yry want, it’s the email address that authenticates the account. The account was accessed so someone had the email address and someone authenticated the account from that email address.
The account is from 2008 and could still be viewed.
The story is accurate EXCEPT that geolocation data was never used; a user enter zip code was used to determine that someone from Florida was the potential source. Because GPS is thought of like DNA sampling to be scientifically valid and accurate, the mistake seems more egregious and, perhaps, biased.
The site was accessed six hours later, and never again.
The account is named “nardo19672” a combination of Moreno’s name and birthdate.
If a terrible prank, apparently the “terrible” part was not terrible until now although the account may be closed, just not erased.
Dilettantiz Dempsey, dutiful debuts his copy/paste of the Breitbart breakthrough busting AP for fake news. Breitbart is generally rated “Questionable” “based on extreme right-wing bias, the publication of conspiracy theories and propaganda, as well as numerous false claims,” a rating the Dempsey overlooks.
AP is rated “left-centered biased due to left-leaning editorializing of news stories and frequently conducting fact checks on conservatives. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a reasonable fact-check record.”
AP reported that an account in Moreno’s name on “Men for 1-on-1 sex” was not authenticated. Moreno’s lawyer came back and said he had a statement from an intern who said he did it “as a juvenile prank.” They noted that the intern could access Moreno’s email account. The former intern said: ““I am thoroughly embarrassed by an aborted prank I pulled on my friend, and former boss, Bernie Moreno, nearly two decades ago,” Ricci said. The AP couldn’t independently confirm Ricci’s statement and he didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Ricci donated $6,599 to Moreno’s campaign last year, according to campaign finance records.”
Breitbart is seizing on AP’s used “geolocation data” as proof of the allegation, which AP clearly stated was an allegation, not confirmed, until Team Moreno conveniently confirmed their intern did it, as a prank, with a statement to back it up. Breitbart did ask AP the geolocation question, and AP immediately fessed up to the error while standing 100% behind the other facts in the story. No delay, no coverup, just an honest anwer to hopeful an honest mistake and certainly a teachable moment for both journalist and editors.
Moreno is a Trump endorsed candidate who previously supported gay marriage while openly advocating for gay rights. After hearing the Don, he became a trans bashing anti gay candidate whose email was used to create an account on a gay dating website. The account was actively used for six hours only. The account touted: ““Hi, looking for young guys to have fun with while traveling.”
Moreno is a Columbian immigrant whose fat-cat Daddy moved here when he was five. A wealthy car dealer, Moreno has been in politics since 2021; he holds no office, he has no experience, he is running for Senator as his second time at bat. He quit his first time after talking to Trump. His brother was Columbia’s ambassador to the US.
In other news, TIC TOK squatter advocate Leonel Moreno is still posting how to squat and get away with it. Moreno is no relation to Moreno :>)