Is John Reid being defamed? It depends on who you ask

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) - The Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor is putting members of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s inner circle on notice.

John Reid’s lawyers have sent Youngkin’s political action committee, Spirit of Virginia, a cease and desist letter claiming defamation.

“A cease and desist letter is just a formal demand, usually from a lawyer, that warns someone to stop allegedly unlawful behavior and usually threatens a lawsuit or legal consequences,” UVA Law Professor Kevin Cope told 8News.

The letter claims that Matt Moran is the person who originally told certain media outlets that Reid owns a Tumblr account that previously shared sexually explicit images. 

Reid denies the account was his, and the letter says Moran has “provided no evidence establishing a connection between the account — and Mr. Reid.” 

In addition to proving that the claim was false, Reid would also need to meet a higher burden to prove defamation, according to Cope. 

“In this case, with a public official, or a public figure, it has to be made with reckless disregard for the truth or falsity,” Cope said.

A burden, Cope said Reid is unlikely to be able to prove, considering he had other social media accounts with the same name as the Tumblr account in question.

“Given that the three social media accounts all had the same name, I think it’s at least plausible that one can conclude that they may have belonged to the same person. I have no idea whether they do or not, but I find it difficult to believe that a court would find that to be defamation,” said Cope.

8News reached out to Matt Moran to get his response to the letter and the accusations in it, but has not heard back as of the time of reporting.