Multiple Reports Have Detailed Moreno Family’s Wealth, “Deep Political Connections,” Ties To Corruption, And The Many “Special Favors” He Received To Build His Business

Columbus, OH – A new ad is repeating the false claims Bernie Moreno has made and independent reporting has consistently found to be false. 

Here’s the truth about Bernie Moreno:

• FACT: Despite campaigning as a “political outsider and immigrant whose family built its way out of rudimentary beginnings,” multiple reports have found that Bernie Moreno’s family was “considerabl[y] wealthy” and had “deep political connections” in Colombia. The New York Times found that Moreno was “born into a rich and politically connected family” and one family friend even called Moreno’s bootstraps origin tale a “gross exaggeration.”

• FACT: Moreno profited off of a scheme with his brothers by funneling U.S. taxpayer money into banks that financed projects his family oversaw. Moreno’s latest personal financial disclosure showed that Moreno’s investment in the scheme has “grown substantially” and is now worth up to $5 million.

• FACT: Despite claiming he built his car dealership business “all on his own” and without “handouts,” multiple reports found that Moreno received a “sweetheart deal” to open his first car dealership. Reports also found that Mercedes-Benz “pulled strings” to help Moreno and that he “leveraged his family connections” – including the “Moreno Family Cash Reserves” – to build his businesses in addition to extra “financial assistance” and “special favors.”

Read more:

• Associated Press: Senate candidate Bernie Moreno campaigns as an outsider. His wealthy family is politically connected

• New York Times: He’s Running for Senate With an Immigrant’s Origin Story. Here’s the Rest.

• Mother Jones: Bernie Moreno Says He Built His Car Dealer Empire All on His Own. The Reality Is More Complicated.

• Business Insider: Ohio GOP Senate nominee Bernie Moreno benefited from the kind of diversity initiative that Republicans hate

• Cleveland.com: Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno’s background faces national scrutiny in New York Times