A lawyer representing Republican lieutenant governor nominee John Reid sent a cease-and-desist letter Monday to Spirit of Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s political action committee. The letter directed the PAC’s executive director, Matt Moran, to “retract all defamatory statements made to the press and that you, Spirit of Virginia, its agents, and its affiliates cease and desist from making, releasing, or otherwise disseminating false and defamatory statements regarding Mr. Reid to any person, organization, or platform in the future.”
The letter also instructed Moran and all associated entities to preserve all communications with Graham Moomaw, who first reported Youngkin’s call to Reid in The Richmonder, as well as communications with Virginia Scope.
The letter comes less than four days after Youngkin asked Reid to withdraw following the discovery of a Tumblr account featuring explicit photos that used the same username as Reid’s Instagram and alleged TikTok accounts. None of the pictures showed Reid himself; they were reposted images of other men.
Moran did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.
The Tumblr account was uncovered during a vulnerability assessment commissioned by Republican groups after Reid became the nominee. It used the same handle Reid employs on other platforms and featured explicit content reposted from other sources.
“The Governor was made aware late Thursday of the disturbing online content,” a spokesperson for Spirit of Virginia said Friday night. “Friday morning, in a call with Mr. Reid, the Governor asked him to step down as the Lt. Governor nominee.”
Reid, the first openly gay man on a statewide ticket, denies that the account is his.
“What’s happened today was my worst fear, a total fabricated internet lie so basic that a middle schooler could have constructed it,” Reid said in a statement Friday night. “It’s predictable. But what I didn’t expect was the governor I have always supported to call and demand my resignation without even showing me the supposed evidence or offering me a chance to respond. I did not accept that, and I deeply resent it.”
The Tumblr account was deleted shortly after the Richmonder first broke the news, but Virginia Scope has viewed the content, and it is still available on the Wayback Machine.
The Daily Mail shared some photos in a story posted Monday.
“JRdeux” is the username for the Tumblr profile that shared the nude pictures. It is also the username for Reid’s personal Instagram account.
“Jrdeux” is also a userhandle on TikTok. The account has no posts, but Reid’s partner is one of the followers listed on the account. The “JRdeux” TikTok account follows 341 accounts, including some other local news personalities, like WTVR’s Jon Burkett.
As of Monday night, a Google search of “JRdeux” still shows results with likes and reposts of naked men from the account.
“We hereby demand that you immediately cease and desist from any publication or statements of false claims regarding Mr. Reid,” the lawyer for Reid wrote in the letter Monday. “Further, now that you are on notice of the false claims, you may not publish said claims in any format, including but not limited to online publication, print, YouTube, X, Instagram, Facebook and other social media platforms.”
The lawyer also instructed Moran and anyone associated with him to save all communications with journalists.
“In light of the legal obligations at play here, we demand that you affirmatively preserve, and not destroy, delete, hide or misplace documents, communications and materials of all kinds, without limitation in anticipation of litigation and instruct any other individual or company including but not limited to LINK Public Affairs, Creative Direct, America Rising and any others who were involved in the creation of the political viability study regarding John Reid and/or who were involved in the dissemination of information to the press including but not limited to Graham Moomaw and Brandon Jarvis,” the lawyer wrote.
The dispute marks another escalation in tensions between Youngkin’s political team and Reid.
Related: The weekend that sent the Virginia Republican Party into a tailspin