Top GOP nominee in Virginia race defiant after Youngkin advisor denies ‘extortion' claims

Fox News

01-05-2025

The campaign for Virginia's Republican nominee for lieutenant governor is pushing back amid a firestorm of controversy and Republican infighting in Virginia, which has pitted the nominee against Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
A source familiar with the conversations told Fox News Digital that a Youngkin advisor attempted to solicit business from the lieutenant governor nominee just days before allegedly attempting to extort him.
John Reid, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, is refusing to drop out of the race after being pressured to do so by the governor because of lewd photos he allegedly posted on a Tumblr account.
In a video posted on Sunday, Reid, who is gay, denied that the Tumblr account with lewd photos belonged to him. He said he would not back down from the race and accused the Youngkin-linked Spirit of Virginia political action committee, which is run by Matt Moran, of attempted "extortion." Reid also said Spirit of Virginia offered to purchase the negative research against him gathered by Republican-aligned America Rising PAC and to bring an end to the negative coverage.
Reid's team filed a cease-and-desist letter against Moran on Monday. Moran has since filed an affidavit in which he denied attempting to extort Reid's team, saying, "I never attacked John and did not threaten or coerce him" and "I communicated what I truly believed was in his best interests in my judgement."
Moran said he was "clear in the meeting that I had acted on the information as a friend and colleague of John Reid, and adamantly deny the characterization of the meeting."
However, audio of an April 25 conversation with Moran and Reid's team, which was obtained and reviewed by Fox News Digital, casts doubt on Moran's characterization of the conversation.
During the conversation, Moran stated that "if John were to step aside … I would go buy it all from America Rising, if that's what you want. The campaign could go buy it all from America Rising."
At another point in the conversation, Moran states that "it is in no one's best interest for any of this to continue" and that if Reid "stays in the race, it is going to continue."
"That hurts our candidates up and down the ticket," said Moran, adding, "Him getting out of the race is the only way it stops, and then, yeah, it absolutely would have to stop forevermore after that."
Additionally, a source familiar with the conversations told Fox News Digital that Moran pitched the Reid campaign services from his advertising company, Creative Direct, in a conversation on April 21.
Youngkin has explained his decision to ask Reid to step down by saying that "explicit social media content like this is a distraction" and "it's a distraction for campaigns, and it's a distraction from people paying attention to the most important issues."
He noted, however, that "the decision is John's and up to John."
A spokesperson for Reid's campaign claimed in a statement to Fox News Digital that "the threat was clear" in the April 25 conversation and that "Moran's affidavit denying it is not accurate."
The spokesperson added that "it's deeply unfortunate he chose to create this distraction for the party after failing to secure business for himself from the campaign."
In response to these accusations, Moran referred Fox News Digital to Wednesday's X post in which he said, "I've known John Reid for years and consider him a friend" and that "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 said.
The X post Moran shared included a letter from his attorney, George Terwilliger, in which the attorney stated that "the facts, evidence, and witnesses would demonstrate that Mr. Moran never attempted to extort, coerce, or pressure Mr. Reid directly or indirectly, but rather as a seasoned professional endeavored to provide sound advice regarding the viability of Mr. Reid's candidacy to someone he counted as a friend."