A Republican aide in Virginia is pushing back hard on accusations from the GOP lieutenant governor nominee that he defamed him.
The drama unfolding in the GOP race for the lieutenant governorship exploded this month after Gov. Glenn Youngkin urged the nominee, John Reid, to drop out of the race, after a Tumblr account Youngkin believed was linked to him was unearthed full of photos of naked and sexually compromised men. Reid, however, has adamantly refused to step aside and claims he is being persecuted for being gay.
“The Governor did call me today and said there were salacious pictures on the internet reposted by an account that uses my Instagram handle,” Reid told The Washington Post. “I have now seen the supposed ‘evidence’ and it’s not my account, even though they’ve used a similar username to what I have on Instagram. As long as I have been in the public space, I have been a target for malicious and salacious lies. This is the second overt attempt to try to force me from the race.”
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Reid further issued a cease-and-desist letter to Matthew Moran, a top aide to Youngkin, accusing him of providing “false and defamatory information to news outlets.”
But Moran is now responding with a message of his own, with his attorney threatening legal counteraction.
"I've known John Reid for years and consider him a friend," wrote Moran in a post to X detailing the letter. "Over the last nine days, I was actively supporting and assisting John as the Lt. Governor nominee of the Republican Party. Let me be clear, facts matter, and they will demonstrate the accusations against me are unfounded."
Moran further attached an affidavit that he had been a supporter of Reid, that he did his best to strategize damage control with Reid after the salacious social media content was discovered, and that Reid largely blew off these attempts.
"I never attacked John and did not threaten or coerce him," stated the affidavit. "I communicated what I truly believed was in his best interests in my judgment."
Republicans are expected to be in for a tough fight to hold onto statewide offices in Virginia, a generally Democratic-favoring state where backlash and drama in the 2021 election resulted in Republicans gaining control.