BAD NEWS BERNIE: Moreno Lying About Earning MBA From University of Michigan & Caught Spending Nearly $50 Million On His “Return To The Auto Industry”

Columbus, OH – It’s been nothing but bad news this week for Wolverine Bernie Moreno after new reporting from the Ohio Capital Journal found that Moreno is lying about having an MBA from the University of Michigan. Plus, new reporting revealed Moreno “sought and signed off on $40 million worth of Mercedes-Benz financing” to open a new car dealership as Moreno continues to be “chide[d]” for his “return to the auto industry.”

NEED-TO-KNOW THIS WEEK:

• Bernie Moreno repeatedly claimed to have an MBA from the University of Michigan in “a car dealership application” with “his signature” and in multiple different biographies, but the truth is “the University of Michigan Office of Public Affairs on Monday said Moreno held only a bachelor’s degree in business.”

• New website MercedesBenzofSunbury.com exposes Bernie Moreno’s “return to the auto industry” as he spends nearly $50 million – $9.5 million on land in Delaware County and $40 million in financing – to open a new Mercedes-Benz dealership despite telling Ohioans “for more than a year that he sold off business interests.”

• Recent reporting uncovered that Bernie Moreno is being backed by a special-interest-funded group that pushed for the closure of the Chillicothe VA.

 NO MBA, JUST BS: Bernie Moreno repeatedly claimed to have an MBA from the University of Michigan in “a car dealership application” with “his signature” and in multiple different biographies, but the University of Michigan Office of Public Affairs confirmed Moreno “does not have an MBA” from That School Up North.

$40 MIL FOR MORENO: New reporting revealed Bernie Moreno “sought and signed off on $40 million worth of Mercedes-Benz financing” to open a new car dealership in Sunbury despite telling Ohioans “for more than a year that he sold off business interests.” This brings the total to $50 million – $9.5 million on land in Delaware County and $40 million in financing – that Moreno is spending to “return to the auto industry” as Ohioans are “chid[ing]” him for his record of mistreating his employees.

LISTEN TO MORE FROM THE STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU HERE

Jeff Gase, UAW Region 2B Central Ohio CAP Council Chairperson: “[Moreno’s] just a big fat cat. He wants all the profits. He wants the money. Wants it for himself.”

Sarah Donaldson, The Statehouse News Bureau: “…union leaders were standing in front of the quintessential union mascot, a fat cat inflatable it basked in the sun Friday off a busy road in Sunbury, across from a plot of property Moreno bought earlier this year that will eventually host a Mercedes Benz dealership.”

 MORENO SELLS OUT WORKERS, DOESN’T SELL OFF BUSINESSES: Bernie Moreno continues to face scrutiny for “lying about his business dealings” by “repeatedly claiming that he’s sold all of his companies” despite “plans to cash in” on a new Mercedes-Benz dealership. Visit MercedesBenzofSunbury.com to learn more.

MORENO COZIES UP TO SPECIAL INTERESTS: As Moreno campaigns with a special-interest-funded group that pushed for the closure of the Chillicothe VA, local veterans, and Ohioans who worked to save the VA are calling out Moreno’s “inexcusable” coordination with the group.

• AFGE organizer Jessica Fee: “I find it absolutely disgraceful and disgusting to veterans in rural America.”

• Reserve Army officer Lisa Parker: “[Concerned Veterans for America and Moreno] don’t understand rural America.”

  WHAT OHIOANS ARE READING THIS WEEK:

• Ohio Capital Journal: Ohio US Senate candidate Bernie Moreno doesn’t hold an MBA, but bio and application claimed he does

• WKYC: VERIFY: No, Bernie Moreno doesn’t have an MBA from the University of Michigan

• MSNBC: “[Moreno] does not have an MBA from the University of Michigan…”

• Roll Call: “However, the Ohio Capital Journal reports that Moreno… earned a bachelor’s degree from Michigan but not an MBA.”

• Cleveland.com: “Moreno’s November 2011 application to open a Florida car dealership stated incorrectly that he held an MBA from the University of Michigan, as did Moreno’s Cleveland Foundation website bio when he first joined the foundation’s board in 2014.”

• Jeff Darcy, Cleveland.com: “It has been uncovered that Moreno was twice credited with having a Master in Business Administration from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor that he does not hold.”

• Political Wire: GOP Candidate Doesn’t Have the MBA He Claims

• Bryan Metzger, Business Insider: “GOP Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno once falsely claimed to hold an MBA from the University of Michigan.”

• Haley BeMiller, The Columbus Dispatch: “A dealership application and online bio for [Moreno] referenced an MBA from the University of Michigan. He doesn’t have one.”

• The New Republic: “… Moreno has also been lying about his business dealings, repeatedly claiming that he’s sold all of his companies so he can head to Washington, D.C., with no hidden agenda.”

• Ohio Capital Journal: “To the people who rallied to save Chillicothe’s VA hospital, Moreno partnering with the organization is a slap in the face.”

• Ohio AFL-CIO: “We do care [that Moreno] consistently lies, cheats his workers…”