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lapucelle

(21,161 posts)
Sun May 31, 2026, 06:22 PM 12 hrs ago

"Top Graham Platner adviser threatened former aide over sexting stories"

Top Graham Platner adviser threatened former aide over sexting stories

An adviser to Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner warned a former aide she would be accused of lying and sabotage if she cooperated with news outlets reporting on sexually explicit messages Platner sent to women, according to a message reviewed by the Bangor Daily News.

Morris Katz, a strategist with the Platner campaign, delivered the Friday warning through an intermediary to former state Rep. Genevieve McDonald, who left the campaign last fall and spoke to The Wall Street Journal and New York Times. The outlets published stories in quick succession on Saturday about the messages that had been flagged by Platner’s wife at the outset of his campaign last summer.

“Just want to be clear on where we are right now,” Katz wrote in the message that McDonald shared exclusively with the BDN. “If the story goes in its current iteration we’ll communicate directly on the record, and by name, that Genevieve violated the personal trust of Amy and Graham and shared explicit falsehoods to sabotage the campaign.”

https://www.bangordailynews.com/2026/05/31/politics/top-graham-platner-adviser-threatened-former-aide-over-sexting-stories/
21 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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"Top Graham Platner adviser threatened former aide over sexting stories" (Original Post) lapucelle 12 hrs ago OP
Welp.. you're fired. yourout 12 hrs ago #1
Are we starting the Democratic circular firing squad here? oldmanlynn 12 hrs ago #2
There will be three Democrats on the June 9 ballot, and voters will rank their choices. lapucelle 12 hrs ago #5
Well we can't support another predator MontanaMama 12 hrs ago #6
Sexting isnt being a sexual predator oldmanlynn 6 hrs ago #21
Is it okay with you that he has such people on his staff? niyad 11 hrs ago #11
Campaign calling it gossip and falsehoods. Irish_Dem 12 hrs ago #3
Genevieve McDonald responded on Facebook. lapucelle 12 hrs ago #4
LOL she's destroying her career over this? leftstreet 12 hrs ago #7
Yes, she is destroying her career over this, and no she did not take the payoff lapucelle 11 hrs ago #8
Doesn't seem worth it leftstreet 11 hrs ago #9
A woman shouldn't be taking the blame for a man's bad actions EdmondDantes_ 8 hrs ago #17
Doesn't it say "multiple sources"? Nixie 11 hrs ago #10
In addition, it may be that Platner's sexts were on his Kik account, lapucelle 10 hrs ago #12
Kik was a new one for me. Had to look that up. Nixie 9 hrs ago #14
Yes, of course MorbidButterflyTat 10 hrs ago #13
She's an experienced politician leftstreet 9 hrs ago #16
If you work for a campaign and you request information from the candidate AZProgressive 9 hrs ago #15
And how should a person in a committed relationship act? EdmondDantes_ 8 hrs ago #18
It seems the people in the committed relationship worked it out AZProgressive 8 hrs ago #19
He was sexting with at least six women. LisaL 8 hrs ago #20

oldmanlynn

(857 posts)
2. Are we starting the Democratic circular firing squad here?
Sun May 31, 2026, 06:27 PM
12 hrs ago

Yes we are. And if we do, we’re just helping the Republicans win.

lapucelle

(21,161 posts)
5. There will be three Democrats on the June 9 ballot, and voters will rank their choices.
Sun May 31, 2026, 06:40 PM
12 hrs ago

MontanaMama

(24,761 posts)
6. Well we can't support another predator
Sun May 31, 2026, 06:45 PM
12 hrs ago

if that’s what you’re saying here. Good grief.

oldmanlynn

(857 posts)
21. Sexting isnt being a sexual predator
Sun May 31, 2026, 11:58 PM
6 hrs ago

Just texting about sex is sexting. Stop believing in the republican talking points

Irish_Dem

(82,708 posts)
3. Campaign calling it gossip and falsehoods.
Sun May 31, 2026, 06:33 PM
12 hrs ago

After Platner admitted to wrong doing.

Story not making sense.

What is the truth?

leftstreet

(41,292 posts)
7. LOL she's destroying her career over this?
Sun May 31, 2026, 06:54 PM
12 hrs ago

She was a state rep. She knows she should have signed the NDA

No one will trust her near a campaign ever again

lapucelle

(21,161 posts)
8. Yes, she is destroying her career over this, and no she did not take the payoff
Sun May 31, 2026, 07:03 PM
11 hrs ago

and sign an NDA. Her silence could not be bought.

I'm not sure why anyone would find that funny.

leftstreet

(41,292 posts)
9. Doesn't seem worth it
Sun May 31, 2026, 07:08 PM
11 hrs ago

These texts apparently happened before the campaign. Platner and his wife worked it out or whatever. Nothingburger

There's no upside in McDonald revealing this and she'll take the brunt of the bad press. Just seems dumb to me

EdmondDantes_

(2,143 posts)
17. A woman shouldn't be taking the blame for a man's bad actions
Sun May 31, 2026, 09:56 PM
8 hrs ago

Platner shouldn't have been sexting women outside the boundaries of his relationship. Stupid decision on his part.

lapucelle

(21,161 posts)
12. In addition, it may be that Platner's sexts were on his Kik account,
Sun May 31, 2026, 08:25 PM
10 hrs ago

which the WSJ confirmed was active when the story broke.

According to MacDonald, she spoke to the WSJ off the record several months ago. She received a courtesy call last week from the WSJ that the story had been verified by multiple sources and that they were ready to publish.

Nixie

(18,138 posts)
14. Kik was a new one for me. Had to look that up.
Sun May 31, 2026, 09:35 PM
9 hrs ago

Sounds pretty hardcore. Live streaming on that, too? Yikes.

Now look at those already smearing MacDonald as supporting “right leaning” causes. Then why would the Platner’s have her in their circle?

So much of this just doesn’t add up.

MorbidButterflyTat

(4,815 posts)
13. Yes, of course
Sun May 31, 2026, 08:49 PM
10 hrs ago

She's threatened by his campaign to keep her mouth shut and HER career is "destroyed."

He's just fine though, nothing to see here.

leftstreet

(41,292 posts)
16. She's an experienced politician
Sun May 31, 2026, 09:49 PM
9 hrs ago
3] She announced her candidacy for Maine House District #134 in February 2018, filling a seat vacated by Walter Kumiega, who had termed out and approached her about running in his place.[9][3] District #134 represents Maine's largest lobster ports and consists of waterfront towns and islands.[10]

McDonald ran unopposed in the 2018 House District #134 Democratic primary and defeated Republican Philip Brady 67%-33% in the general election.[2] During her first term, McDonald served on the Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources and the Maine Climate Council Working Group on Community Resiliency, Emergency Planning and Public Health.[2]

In January 2020, McDonald announced a re-election bid.[11] She defeated fellow Democrat Julie Eaton 75%-25% in the District #134 primary and ran unopposed in the general election.[12] In her second term she continued to serve on the Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources and was assigned as the House chair of the Government Oversight Committee.[13] In April 2021, McDonald was appointed to the Coastal and Marine Working Group of the Maine Climate Council.[14]

McDonald announced her candidacy for Maine Senate District 7 in January 2022,[15] but later withdrew her candidacy. She resigned her House seat on May 9, 2022

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genevieve_McDonald#Maine_House


She knows how things work

AZProgressive

(30,017 posts)
15. If you work for a campaign and you request information from the candidate
Sun May 31, 2026, 09:46 PM
9 hrs ago

or someone close to the candidate what could be potentially damaging opposition research that Susan Collins could use as a means to help them you don't go ahead and leak that info to the media. That isn't how any campaign for any candidate should operate.

EdmondDantes_

(2,143 posts)
18. And how should a person in a committed relationship act?
Sun May 31, 2026, 09:57 PM
8 hrs ago

Stop blaming women for a man's poor life choices.

AZProgressive

(30,017 posts)
19. It seems the people in the committed relationship worked it out
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:12 PM
8 hrs ago

The wife actually feels betrayed by the staffer because she revealed what could be used as opposition research to actually help her husband.

It feels too late in the primary to make support for Platner into a sexist issue. I can read a poll and know he is the likely winner of the primary and is the favorite to win the general election and understand the stakes and winning Maine is Democrats best path toward winning back the Senate.

LisaL

(47,610 posts)
20. He was sexting with at least six women.
Sun May 31, 2026, 10:14 PM
8 hrs ago

You don't think it was going to come out? Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.
Here we have six. His wife, instead of blaming the staffer, maybe should take a look at her husband.

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