World

How the AP reported that someone with access to Bernie Moreno's email created adult website profile

Published

2 years ago

March 14, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press reported Thursday that someone with access to a work email account for Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno created a profile in late 2008 on an adult website, seeking casual sexual encounters with men.

The story relied on records from a number of publicly available sources of information, including a leaked 2016 database from the website Adult Friend Finder, current records the site makes available online about past and present profiles, property records and business filings, as well as archived versions of websites for Adult Friend Finder and businesses that Moreno once owned.

The AP could not definitively confirm whether the profile was created by Moreno himself.

Questions about the profile have circulated in GOP circles for the past month. On Thursday evening, two days after the AP first asked Moreno’s campaign about the account, the candidate’s lawyer said a former intern created the account as a prank. The lawyer provided a statement from the intern, Dan Ricci, who said he created the account as “part of a juvenile prank.”

“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.

Moreno’s lawyer, Charles Harder, insisted Moreno “had nothing to do with the AFF account.”

Here’s how AP reported the story:

MASSIVE DATA BREACH

In 2016, the website Adult Friend Finder was the subject of a massive and well-documented data breach that exposed the personal information of millions of users, including a large number of old accounts that appeared to have been previously closed or left dormant. The episode, which was widely reported on at the time, was the second such breach of the website, following a smaller leak that occurred the previous year.

That data remains available online. The AP located the files, downloaded them from a publicly accessible location and matched the contents with previous reporting on the size and nature of the leaked data.

The data included a unique account number, as well as a work email address for Moreno — [email protected] — that was once listed for him on the website of a dealership he owned. It also listed a username, “nardo19672.”

Jake Williams, a prominent cybersecurity researcher and a former National Security Agency offensive hacker, independently confirmed that the email address was included in a copy of the leaked data.

The AP verified that the email address was publicly listed as Moreno’s by using a website called the WayBack Machine, which preserves online data so that it can be retrieved later, even after a site is edited or removed. Moreno’s company page listed the address as belonging to him in 2010, while internet domain registration filings show that one of Moreno’s companies owned the clevelandporcshe.com domain name in 2008, when the account was created.

In order to complete the creation of an account on Adult Friend Finder and successfully log in at the time, a user would need access to the email address they used to establish it, according to an archived copy of the site from 2008. The reason, the company explained, is because that’s where an account password needed to log in would be sent.

“Adult Friend Finder only requires a valid email address in order to become a member of this site, as you will not be able to obtain your password without one,” the company stated on its website in 2008.

Data obtained by the AP shows that the account was authenticated by someone with access to Moreno’s work email address roughly two minutes after it was created.

‘LOOKING FOR YOUNG GUYS TO HAVE FUN WITH’

The AP used the unique account number obtained from the leaked data to retrieve additional information for the online profile from a publicly accessible data portal, called an API, on Adult Friend Finder’s website. It showed that the account was created in late 2008 and used for roughly six hours.

Beyond the work email, 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. The account’s username — nardo19672 — appears to be a reference to Moreno’s full first name, Bernardo, as well as the year and month of his birth in February 1967.

And the profile itself, which remains viewable online, lists Moreno’s correct birthdate.

Metadata obtained from Adult Friend Finder indicates the profile creator was interested in meeting “Men for 1-on-1 sex,” stated they would “prefer not to say” what their marital status was, and declined to reveal their sexual orientation.

“Hi, looking for young guys to have fun with while traveling,” reads a caption on the photo-less profile.

Cyber Security experts say that, in all likelihood, the account had been closed but the company still retained the data and made it publicly searchable. The beginning of his username in the leaked data contained the designation “rm_,” which is a common flag for programmers to indicate that an account has been removed or closed.

But as was often the case before new rules protecting personal information went into effect, websites often did not truly delete the data.

“It’s very common that they would hold on to those accounts,” said Williams, who said a similar phenomenon occurred when data was leaked from the website Ashley Madison, which catered to married individuals seeking affairs. “We had a lot of people who said: ‘How do they have this? I deleted this years ago.’ The answer is: Your stuff is not really deleted.”

___

Associated Press data journalist Larry Fenn contributed to this report.

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World

May Day protests across Europe and Asia turn into anti-American, anti-Israel political battlegrounds

Published

32 minutes ago

May 3, 2026

Press Room

May Day protests across Europe and Asia turn into anti-American, anti-Israel political battlegrounds

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May Day demonstrations across Europe and Asia on Friday revealed how International Workers’ Day is increasingly transforming from a traditional labor rights event into a broader political battleground, where demands over wages, inflation and worker protections are now frequently intertwined with anti-war activism, anti-Israel rhetoric and wider ideological struggles over global power.

From Paris to Istanbul, Madrid, Manila and Seoul, protests often expanded far beyond workplace grievances, with demonstrators linking rising living costs and social inequality to war in the Middle East, U.S. foreign policy and broader anti-capitalist narratives.

Nile Gardiner, senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital that the demonstrations reflected what he described as a ‘troubling moral inversion’.

600 GROUPS WITH $2B IN REVENUE MOBILIZE 3,000 MAY DAY PROTESTS IN ‘RED-BLUE’ ALLIANCE, PROBE FINDS

Supporters of the Iraqi Communist Party hold a symbolic hammer and sickle as they take part in the May Day celebration in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

“These May Day protesters should be demonstrating against the brutal tyranny in Tehran instead of protesting against U.S. military action, and this is an illustration of the complete moral vacuum that exists in Europe today,” Gardiner said.

In Paris, May Day protests reportedly escalated into clashes as police used tear gas grenades and forceful arrests after projectiles were thrown during demonstrations, according to publicly circulated social media footage.

Earlier, French labor leaders had focused on inflation, wages and social protections, but parts of the protests also featured anti-war slogans, Palestinian symbolism and criticism of military spending.

MAY DAY PROTESTS TO TAKE PLACE FRIDAY AS AGITATORS ACROSS THE US PUSH ‘WORKERS OVER BILLIONAIRES’ MOTTO

Protesters march during the May Day demonstration in Rennes, western France, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP)

In Madrid, thousands marched under banners reading “Capitalism should pay the cost of their war,” while demonstrators protested stagnant wages, housing shortages and militarism. Placards targeting President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted how international conflict featured prominently alongside domestic labor concerns.

Germany also saw unrest in Munich, where publicly circulated reporter footage showed riot police using batons to disperse radical leftist protesters after pyrotechnics were repeatedly ignited during a revolutionary May Day demonstration.

Emma Schubart, Research Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank, warned that May Day demonstrations increasingly serve as platforms for ideological movements extending beyond labor activism.

“The May Day demonstrations across Europe increasingly feature Islamist elements. Militant anti-war, anti-capitalist rhetoric is now routinely accompanied by Palestinian flags and explicit anti-Israel slogans,” Schubart said, adding that far-left activism and Islamist-linked networks are increasingly converging under broader anti-Western narratives.

In Istanbul, police blocked leftist groups from marching to the banned Taksim Square, the historic center of Turkey’s labor movement, where demonstrations have long carried symbolic political weight. Protesters attempted to break through barricades and clashed with police as authorities detained some of the protesters.

MORE KEY US ALLIES BLOCK MILITARY FLIGHTS AS IRAN WAR RIFT WIDENS WITH TRUMP

Protester take part in a rally to mark May Day in Athens, on Friday, May 1, 2026 (Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo)

Outside Europe, similar themes emerged across Asia.

In Manila, workers clashed with police near the U.S. Embassy while protesting higher fuel and commodity prices, demanding wage increases and calling for an end to war in the Middle East.

A left-wing labor group paraded a giant effigy depicting Trump, Netanyahu and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as a three-headed monster, symbolically tying domestic hardship to both local and international political leadership.

In South Korea, thousands gathered near Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square for major labor rallies centered on collective bargaining and worker rights, but speeches also incorporated broader geopolitical messaging.

Korea Confederation of Trade Unions Chairman Yang Kyung-soo called on demonstrators to “unite with the Iranian and Palestinian workers and people suffering from American imperialist aggression,” explicitly connecting labor solidarity to anti-American and Middle East political narratives.

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People march with Chilean flags during a May Day event in Chile in 2026. (Juan Gonzalez/Reuters)

While local priorities varied, from wages in France to labor rights in Seoul, May Day 2026 demonstrated a growing global pattern: labor demonstrations are increasingly becoming arenas for broader ideological and geopolitical confrontation.

“The United States is fighting to defend the free world against tyranny, and yet across Europe and beyond we are seeing protesters direct their outrage at America and its allies instead of the brutal regimes driving so much of this global instability,” Gardiner said. “That should deeply concern anyone who cares about the future of Western civilization.”

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Efrat Lachter is a foreign correspondent for Fox News Digital covering international affairs and the United Nations. Follow her on X @efratlachter. Stories can be sent to efrat.lachter@fox.com.

World

Trump says he will review Iran’s new 14-point plan; Israel pounds Lebanon

Published

2 hours ago

May 2, 2026

Press Room

Trump says he will review Iran’s new 14-point plan; Israel pounds Lebanon

The US president says he will ‘soon be reviewing the plan Iran has just sent to us’, but doesn’t think he can make a deal.

Published On 3 May 2026

World

Where to Watch Naoya Inoue vs. Junto Nakatani Boxing Live Online

Published

12 hours ago

May 2, 2026

Press Room

Where to Watch Naoya Inoue vs. Junto Nakatani Boxing Live Online

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.

In a title bout for the undisputed super bantamweight (junior featherweight) championship, Japanese fighter Naoya Inoue takes on fellow Japanese boxer Junto Nakatani in a 12-round match. What’s on the line? Inoue’s IBF, WBC and WBO World Super Bantam title belts. At the end of the contest, one of these fighters will have both titles — or it will end with a draw.

On Saturday, May 2, Inoue (32-0-0) vs. Nakatani (32-0-0) takes place at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan with a start time of 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT. Ringwalk for the main event is expected around 8 a.m. ET/5 a.m. PT.

Inoue vs. Nakatani is available as a premium live boxing event, so it’s free to watch for DAZN subscribers.

Not a DAZN subscriber? Right now, you can purchase access to the event starting at $20.99/month. Additionally, DAZN’s “Ultimate Tier” plan goes for just $49.99/month to get access to this PPV event, as well as 11 other PPV events throughout the year at no extra cost. It’s just a flat monthly subscription price. The plan also have access to more than 100 live fights all year long, as well as fight replays, highlights and documentaries.

The fights during the Inoue vs. Nakatani event are free to watch for subscribers.

Naoya Inoue vs. Junto Nakatani Odds & Predictions

For the main event, Inoue is the favorite to heavy win against Nakatani. Oddsmakers give Naoya Inoue a -450 moneyline (bet $450 to win $100), while Junto Nakatani received a line of +310 (bet $100 to win $310), as the underdog. Want more odds? Check out the complete odds and wagers at BetMGM.com online here.

Taking place on Saturday, May 2, Naoya Inoue vs. Junto Nakatani is available to livestream on DAZN for subscribers.

Main Card, 3 a.m. ET/12 a.m. PT

Super Bantamweight (Junior Featherweight): Naoya Inoue (champion) vs. Junto Nakatani — Main Event, IBF, WBC and WBO World Super Bantam Title Fight
Bantamweight: Takuma Inoue (champion) vs. Kazuto Ioka — WBC Title Fight
Featherweight: Toshiki Shimomachi vs. Reiya Abe
Welterweight: Sora Tanaka vs. Jin Sasaki
Flyweight: Kosuke Tomioka vs. Shogo Tanaka
Super Middleweight: Deok No Yun vs. Yuito Moriwaki
Super Bantamweight: Yoshiki Takei vs. Dekang Wang

Fan of world sports? DAZN is the home to global sports, including FIFA, BKFC, National League, UEFA Women’s Championship League, ERC and WRC racing, Riyadh Season boxing, NFL Game Pass International and other American and international sports leagues. Learn more about DAZN and its programming here.