New explosive allegation rocks Platner campaign still reeling from rape accusation
Embattled U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner was hit with a second explosive allegation of sexual impropriety only about 24 hours after he was accused of rape — all while a major campaign decision deadline looms. In a new report published by The Washington Post, the candidate from Maine was accused of removing condoms during sex with his ex-girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield after she explicitly directed him to wear them. “He would pull condoms off,” she told The Washington Post. “He would do it in a sneaky way. He wouldn’t tell me.” NEW YORK TIMES UNDER SCRUTINY OVER GRAHAM PLATNER COVERAGE AS ACCUSERS SPEAK OUT AGAINST PAPER Fifield, 41, previously accused Platner of physical misconduct during their relationship, saying that he sometimes grabbed her hard enough to leave marks on her body and that one time he twisted her arm around her back, pushed her into a bedroom and held the door shut until she “calmed down.” Those concerns were largely dismissed by Platner’s supporters, who characterized Fifield, who used to work at The Heritage Foundation, as being a conservative operative. “I confronted him both during and after [sex] because he knew that I was not on birth control and how dangerous that was,” she told the Post, which said Fifield made the allegations in a previous interview with the outlet but strictly off the record. ‘HE HATED WOMEN’: EXPLOSIVE ABUSE, NEW NAZI TATTOO ALLEGATIONS FROM EXES ROCK PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN “He would act, like, cute about it, like ‘Oh sneaky me,’” she said, according to the report. In a statement to The Washington Post, the Platner campaign reportedly said that Fifield’s latest allegations were “categorically false and politically motivated.” Platner is running to oust Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins. Monday, the oyster farmer, whose campaign has been dogged by scandal since last year, was accused of rape by another woman. PLATNER’S LATEST ACCUSER CLAIMS THE DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE ‘ABSOLUTELY’ RAPED HER Jenny Racicot, 41, told Politico that Platner drunkenly entered her home while they were on-again, off-again romantic partners in 2021 and raped her. She claimed that he ejaculated inside her after she told him to stop multiple times. “I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” Racicot told the outlet, which she said took place while Platner was “almost blackout drunk” in Washington, D.C. “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.’” Platner categorically denied those allegations, too, in a video released in the immediate aftermath of the publication of the Politico story. He said his campaign was taking time to assess possible next steps as a major deadline in the race looms. Platner must withdraw from the race by 5 p.m. July 13 if another Democratic candidate, who would be chosen by the party, is to replace him before the November general election. Monday evening into Tuesday, a litany of previous supporters dropped their endorsements of Platner and called for him to drop out of the race, including progressive senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., two of his most ardent backers. “Now more than ever we need leaders in Washington who reflect our values. There can be no tolerance for sexual assault,” Warren said in a statement Monday night. TOP PLATNER ALLY TURNS ON HIM AFTER BOMBSHELL RAPE ALLEGATION ROCKS CAMPAIGN: ‘RED LINE’ “Working families are counting on Democrats to win the Senate election in Maine to unrig our economy and hold Donald Trump accountable. With so much at stake, the best path forward is for Graham Platner to step aside as the Democratic nominee and address these serious allegations outside this Senate race.” “I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine,” Sanders said in a statement Tuesday. “In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.” Fox News Digital reached out to Platner’s campaign for comment. Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
Dem with White House ambitions ripped after backing two scandal-plagued candidates: ‘Troubling’
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who has left the door open to a 2028 presidential run, is facing new questions about his judgment after rescinding support for a second Democratic candidate accused of misconduct involving women. Gallego rescinded his endorsement of Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner on Monday after a rape allegation surfaced. The move comes just months after Gallego pulled his support from Eric Swalwell’s disastrous California gubernatorial bid amid separate allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. Both Platner and Swalwell have denied the allegations against them. In a social media post on X announcing he would be withdrawing his support for Platner, Gallego called the accusations against Platner “troubling and deeply serious.” Meanwhile, Lyndsey Fifield, Platner’s former girlfriend who has publicly accused Platner of abusive behavior, called out Gallego after the Arizona senator withdrew his Platner endorsement Monday, suggesting Gallego had ample warning signs before finally abandoning the embattled Maine Democrat. DEM SENATOR FACES DOJ PROBE AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF SPENDING CAMPAIGN FUNDS ON LUXURY LIFESTYLE “Mine weren’t sufficiently troubling or serious for you, right?” Fifield wondered in response to a social media post on X from Gallego, referring to the accounts of her relationship with Platner provided to The New York Times and published several weeks ago. Fifield’s allegations were included in a June 4 New York Times report examining Platner’s past relationships in which she alleged that he repeatedly grabbed her hard enough to leave marks, pulled her from a cab by the wrist and, in one incident, twisted her arm behind her back and held her in a room while they were dating several years ago. Fifield told the Times Platner never hit or punched her but said the alleged incidents left her shaken and afraid. Platner denied being violent and called the allegations false. Still, Platner drew support from influential Democratic figures before and after the Times report. “Pod Save America” co-host Jon Lovett acknowledged after the June 4 story that the Times had reported allegations that Platner was “intimidating and even physically aggressive with past romantic partners” but argued Democrats had to weigh whether they preferred “a Democratic majority with Graham Platner in the Senate” or a Republican majority with incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. TOP PLATNER ALLY TURNS ON HIM AFTER BOMBSHELL RAPE ALLEGATION ROCKS CAMPAIGN: ‘RED LINE’ Fellow co-host Jon Favreau had previously praised Platner as Democrats’ “best and only chance” to beat Collins and as a “good, decent man who’s struggled and grown and is always trying to do better.” “Senator Gallego did the right thing and broke with those individuals when he learned they had betrayed values he proudly fights for,” a Gallego spokesperson told Fox News Digital. But Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said people like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., needed to apologize for backing Platner, telling Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that he “refused” early on to look past the claims. “What he did is he effectively broke in her home – he went in her home without her consent, then he came upstairs and assaulted her. She also described that created a dangerous situation for a possible pregnancy because of those circumstances, what he’s done,” Fetterman said of the latest allegations. DEMS UPHILL CLIMB FOR SENATE MAJORITY JUST GOT A LOT STEEPER WITH LATEST PLATNER ALLEGATION “He was already a dead man walking politically,” Fetterman continued. “Even those ‘Pod Save America’ people who pushed that dirtbag — and they dismissed those things in The New York Times article — maybe they ought to apologize to the women that clearly they didn’t believe or they dismissed. “I know Democrats that have back-to-back endorsed and gone all in on Swalwell and were on the Platner train as well too. So, maybe stop getting in bed with absolute dirtbags, someone like Platner.” A Fox News Digital review of public endorsement announcements and press reports found Gallego was the only sitting member of Congress clearly identified as having endorsed both Swalwell and Platner. Separate state and local affiliates within the SEIU and AFL-CIO labor union networks were involved in each race, but they were not the same endorsing entities. “The allegations against Platner are awful but are also unsurprising to anyone who actually read the NYT catch-and-kill story. The victim strongly implied the allegations there,” former chief counsel to Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, Mike Fragoso, said this week after the latest round of allegations against Platner. The latest allegation came from Jenny Racicot, a Maine Democrat who said she dated Platner on and off from 2019 to 2021 and had previously spoken to the Times for its June story. Racicot alleged in a Monday Politico report that Platner entered her home uninvited in late 2021 after she told him not to come over, was intoxicated, ignored her repeated objections and forced her to have sex. Politico reported that it reviewed text messages and emails with Racicot’s therapist and spoke with people she said she confided in after the alleged assault. Platner has once again denied the allegation as false. HOW GRAHAM PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN UNRAVELED: FROM REDDIT POSTS TO RAPE ALLEGATION Gallego joined several other prominent Democrats after the Politico report in rescinding support for Platner or calling on him to exit the race, while Democratic operatives face a tight window under Maine election law to replace him if he withdraws. “Gallego’s judgment is troubling,” Republican Arizona state Sen. Warren Peterson said. “Another Gallego endorsement going down in flames.” “There is a bizarre pattern of Gallego, who claimed complete ignorance of his friend Eric Swalwell’s alleged abusive treatment of women and is now doing the same with Graham Platner,” said Jonathan Turley, a Fox News Media contributor and George Washington University law professor. “For Schumer’s PAC, Senatorial, Gallego, the Pod Bros, et al. the only real difference now is polling,” Fragoso said of the changing sentiment toward Platner. Meanwhile, conservative commentator Ryan Girdusky took aim at Gallego’s personal history, writing on X, “Ruben Gallego is dropping Graham Platner like he’s a pregnant wife.” The
Trump administration plans new ICE holding facility near Louisiana deportation flight hub
The Trump administration plans to open a new migrant holding facility next to an airport hub in Louisiana, potentially allowing the federal government to speed up deportations of families and unaccompanied children. A holding facility with 528 beds is set to open in Alexandria, Louisiana, near the Alexandria International Airport (AEX), according to The Associated Press. The proximity to the airport is believed to make it easier for federal immigration officials to house illegal immigrants and unaccompanied children during final flight preparations, the outlet reported. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is describing the new Louisiana facility as a “staging area” and not a detention center, saying migrants would only be held there for a few days at most. NEW YORKER SUING ICE AFTER OFFICERS WENT TO HIS HOME TO WARN HIM OVER CRITICISM OF AGENCY “England Airpark is a staging facility for deportations. A staging facility is where illegal aliens await their deportation flight to their destination country or transfer to a detention facility,” a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement to Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, which deferred to DHS. Airpark officials at the airfield where the structure is being built said the facility is a “humanitarian effort” for families who are “self-deporting.” Immigration advocates say families and unaccompanied children sometimes decide to leave due to pressure or a lack of an understanding of their options, The AP reported. The facility would be stationed next to the nation’s largest hub for deportations. More than 4,400 immigration enforcement flights came to and from the Alexandria International Airport last year, according to data from the ICE Flight Monitor, an initiative of Human Rights First. ICE documents say families and children at the facility “are in the legal custody of ICE and can only be released at the direction of ICE.” The agency has told contractors that families at the facility should not be referred to as prisoners, detainees or inmates, records show. Contractors were instructed not to utilize bars or cages when transporting families and unaccompanied children. The facility will not be required to take headcounts and should allow families to wear their own clothes, the agency said. Unaccompanied children are typically not taken to facilities overseen by ICE and must instead be placed in the care of state-licensed shelters and foster care programs, which are run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Department of Health and Human Services. But that agency is not involved in the new facility’s operation, a spokesperson at the airfield where the facility is being built told The Associated Press. The facility would be run by a nonprofit arm of LaSalle Corrections, a private prison contractor, according to Ralph Hennessy, executive director of the England Airpark Authority, who said it could be operational as early as next month. “These are people that are volunteering to go back home, and they’re going back home as a family unit,” Hennessy told The Associated Press. ICE signed a contract late last month to build the facility at the former military base near Alexandria International Airport, Hennessy said. APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN FROM HOLDING MIGRANTS WITHOUT BOND FOR OVER 90 DAYS The facility would operate as a 72-hour holding center for migrants awaiting deportation, records show, according to The Associated Press. LaSalle Corrections runs several private prisons and federal immigration detention centers throughout the south, including the “Louisiana Lockup” inside the state’s maximum-security prison in Angola. The official contractor for the new ICE holding facility will be the company’s nonprofit arm, the LaSalle Family Foundation, but LaSalle Corrections will be involved in operating the holding facility and ensuring compliance, according to the company’s chief financial officer, Tim Kurpiewski. Since April, two detainee deaths have been reported at a LaSalle-run ICE facility in the state. Winn Correctional Center was also found last month to have violated standards regarding environmental health and safety, food service, use of force, medical care and other concerns, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Hochul says Stefanik would’ve been tougher GOP opponent than Blakeman in surprising swipe at rival
Democrat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul suggested Rep. Elise Stefanik would have been a tougher Republican opponent than GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman this fall, prompting the Nassau County executive to fire back by comparing the incumbent to Disney villain Cruella de Vil while blasting her record. Hochul made the remarks during an interview with Newsday’s editorial board after she was asked whether Stefanik, who publicly considered running for governor before declining, would have been a stronger general election opponent than Blakeman. “Probably. I mean, Bruce is, you know, Bruce,” Hochul said. NY GOVERNOR HOPEFUL VOWS SHOWDOWN WITH MAMDANI OVER SOCIALIST AGENDA: ‘I WILL STOP HIM’ The governor said Stefanik’s national profile would have changed the dynamics of the race. “She had the ability to raise a lot of money” because of her national following, Hochul said. “It would have been a different race.” HOCHUL PRESS OFFICE FEUDS WITH DAVE PORTNOY ON X AS CRITICS ROAST GOVERNOR IN HER OWN REPLIES Hochul added that she still believes she would have defeated Stefanik. “Our polling shows us beating her as well,” she said. Blakeman, however, accused Hochul of trying to distract from her record. BILL REPLACING ‘MOTHER’ AND ‘FATHER’ WITH GENDER-NEUTRAL TERMS PASSES IN NEW YORK, HEADS TO HOCHUL’S DESK “Cruella de Vil is more likable than Kathy Hochul and her high taxes, high electric bills and soaring health care costs,” Blakeman said in a statement to Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital reached out to Stefanik for comment. This story will be updated with any response. Before exiting the race, Fox News Digital reported exclusively that Stefanik had consolidated support from Republican county chairs and party leaders across New York, making her the early front-runner for the GOP nomination. “Elise Stefanik, a fantastic person and Congresswoman from New York State, has just announced she won’t be running for Governor,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last December. “Elise is a tremendous talent, regardless of what she does. She will have GREAT success, and I am with her all the way!” Trump ultimately endorsed Blakeman after Stefanik opted against entering the race, helping cement the Nassau County executive as the Republican nominee in an election cycle that has put the president’s influence in party primaries on full display. Hochul is seeking a second full four-year term after first taking office in 2021 following former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation. She defeated Republican Lee Zeldin by roughly six percentage points in 2022 despite Republicans posting one of their strongest gubernatorial performances in deep blue New York in years. The next campaign finance filings are due later this month, though Hochul has maintained a significant fundraising advantage over Blakeman. Republicans are hoping public matching funds and outside spending will help narrow the gap as the race ramps up.
‘F—ING IDIOTS’: Top female operatives torch Platner enablers as rape allegation rocks Dem campaign
Neera Tanden and Shannon Watts, a pair of top Democratic political operatives, are calling on Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner to step down amid a bombshell rape allegation that emerged Monday. Tanden, the CEO of the Center for American Progress, a center-left think tank that had deep ties to the Biden and Obama administrations, has been critical of Platner for months. “I will remain incredibly angry at the people who didn’t vet this candidate, but in life you don’t get the best choices. Unless people show a lot more courage than they have,” Tanden said in an X post that was re-upped Monday. TOP PLATNER ALLY TURNS ON HIM AFTER BOMBSHELL RAPE ALLEGATION ROCKS CAMPAIGN: ‘RED LINE’ In addition to calling for his removal, Tanden and Watts are also strongly cautioning the party about its next move as the state nears the Nov. 3 general election. Platner, who has fended off stories about a Nazi tattoo, past online comments on race and relational infidelity, came under renewed fire Monday afternoon when Politico reported that he had allegedly raped a former girlfriend, Jenny Racicot, while heavily intoxicated after allegedly being told repeatedly to stop. She also went on CNN Monday evening shortly after the report was published to tell host Jake Tapper that “by dictionary definition” Platner “raped” her. “I thought, here’s a man who was drunk and who, by dictionary definition, raped me. And he’s blaming drunk women,” Racicot said. “So, I just felt like that was a very odd take to have on that. And I also feel like, with all of the comments that he made about women, sexual assault, rape, even, um, you know, the comments that he had made that was in The New York Times article about, you know, threatening people with rape, like, why does this person have this issue, like scattered throughout their life, throughout their commentary, like it‘s on their mind?” Platner has denied the allegations, calling them “troubling, serious, and false.” The Platner campaign posted a video on X shortly after the Politico story published where Platner again called the allegations “false,” adding he was going to “reflect” on the best path forward. “So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” Platner says in the video. “Those were the goals when we launched this campaign, and they remain my goals today.” Watts, who has grown in prominence through advocacy with her gun control organization, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, immediately highlighted the story, criticizing party figures who, in her view, had blown past warning signs about Platner’s behavior. “MAYBE LISTEN TO WOMEN IN THE PARTY YOU F—— IDIOTS!!!!” Watts wrote in a post on X. “Who endorsed him despite the fact that he said bigoted, racist and sexist things online? Despite his Totenkopf tattoo? Despite accusations of domestic assault? Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Ruben Gallego, Martin Heinrich, Ro Khanna. Who am I missing?” Watts added. EXPLOSIVE SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATION ROCKS PLATNER CAMPAIGN AHEAD OF KEY DEADLINE IN CRUCIAL SENATE RACE With the state Democratic Party calling on Platner to step aside, Watts wasted little time setting her sights on a possible replacement. She began striking out against letting someone like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., handpick an alternative. “Bernie Sanders — the worst judge of character in history — hasn’t yet condemned the fatally flawed candidate he forced upon the Dem Party in Maine, likely causing us to lose the Senate. Why? He’s going to try and hold us hostage until we pick his other sh—- candidate,” Watts wrote, likely referring to Troy Jackson, another progressive in the state. Notably, Sanders dropped his endorsement of Platner on Tuesday and called on Platner to drop out of the race. Jackson, a former Maine Senate president, faces allegations of his own, having reportedly gotten into a physical altercation with a female colleague, according to Progressive Victory, an advocacy group. “So no, we’re not going to pick this f—— guy,” Watts wrote in another post, highlighting Progressive Victory’s statement on Jackson. Tanden also hinted at her disapproval at the idea of swapping Platner out with another up-and-coming progressive. “Isn’t the most democratic thing to do here is select the candidate who won the most votes in the Gov’s race? I think they were all pretty good, but that might be the most credible with voters,” Tanden wrote. Like Watts, Tanden criticized voices suggesting Jackson might be a suitable alternative. SANDERS BREAKS SILENCE ON PLATNER, CALLS ON SCANDAL-PLAGUED PROGRESSIVE TO ‘STEP ASIDE’ “Maybe the people who got us into this mess should take a beat on the right path for the future. And I say that with the utmost respect to Ro Khanna,” Tanden said, highlighting a post from Khanna that noted Jackson’s achievements just hours after the news about Platner had broken. Khanna, who had fiercely supported Platner, rescinded his endorsement on Monday along with several other high-profile Democrats, who are calling on Platner to drop out of the race.
Abigail Spanberger’s Virginia a ‘hotbed’ for illegal immigrant crime, DHS says after latest rape charge
After yet another illegal immigrant was charged with violent crimes in Fairfax County, Virginia, the Department of Homeland Security is once again appealing to Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger not to allow the charged individual to be released. In a statement Tuesday, DHS ripped Spanberger on charges of being too soft on illegal immigrant crime, saying, “Under Governor Abigail Spanberger, Virginia has become a hotbed of illegal alien crime.” The latest involves Juan Arevalo Mendez, a 46-year-old twice-deported illegal immigrant from El Salvador who has been charged with rape and abduction in Fairfax County. Arevalo Mendez was arrested last week in Prince William County on charges of rape and abduction with intent to sexually assault stemming from an alleged attack in Fairfax County last September, according to DHS. ICE MAKES NATIONWIDE ARRESTS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, MURDERERS, PEDOPHILES IN HOLIDAY BLITZ The agency said Arevalo Mendez originally entered the country legally in 1991, but his status was revoked after his first conviction for destruction of property in 1998. He was deported in 2003, illegally reentered the U.S., was deported again in 2014 and illegally reentered again at an unknown date and location. In addition to the illegal reentries, Arevalo Mendez has a lengthy criminal history that includes multiple convictions for assault, including aggravated assault and assault with a weapon, as well as drug possession, obstructing justice, identity theft and larceny. The same day he was arrested, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer for Fairfax County officials to hold Arevalo Mendez. Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis remarked that “DHS is calling on Governor Abigail Spanberger and her fellow sanctuary politicians in Fairfax County to commit to not releasing this dangerous criminal from jail, and to instead turn him over to ICE custody so that we can remove him from our nation and end his crime spree in our country.” Bis added that “Virginia sanctuary politicians need to stop playing Russian roulette with American lives and work with ICE law enforcement to keep criminals out of our communities.” Allyson Conroy, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, told Fox News Digital that Arevalo Mendez “remains in the custody of the Sheriff’s Office in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center (ADC).” Conroy noted that “while it is still too early in the process to know the outcome of his case, ICE has been notified of Mendez’s location at the ADC, and they are able to execute their detainer by responding to the ADC and taking Mendez into custody if and when he is ordered released.” WATCH: ANGEL MOM TURNS TABLES ON SANCTUARY POLITICIANS WITH BASIC QUESTION ABOUT THEIR PRIORITIES She emphasized that the “Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office does not obstruct or prevent ICE from acting on their civil detainers.” In its statement, DHS criticized Spanberger for signing an executive order terminating the state’s 287(g) program partnering state and local law enforcement with federal immigration authorities, which it suggested is contributing to the crimes. According to the agency, Fairfax County has been especially hard hit by illegal immigrant crime in recent months. A suburb of Washington, D.C., Fairfax County is Virginia’s largest county by population and has a Democratic prosecutor, Steve Descano, and a Democratic sheriff, Stacey Kincaid. Both have been criticized by local advocacy groups, Virginians for Safe Communities and Victims Rights Reform Council, for their sanctuary-style approach to enforcement. DHS detailed 17 alleged instances of serious crimes by illegal immigrants that took place in Virginia in 2026 alone. Nine out of those 17 cases took place in Fairfax County. In addition to Arevalo Mendez, DHS said that in June ICE also lodged detainers with Fairfax County for Nicaraguan illegal immigrant Moises Domingo Rico Rosales, who was arrested for abduction of person with intent to defile and indecent exposure, and for Cristian Wilfredo Alvarenga Aguilar, an illegal alien charged with abduction, assault, carjacking and robbery. In May, DHS said that ICE arrested Walvin Victor Hugo Garcia after he was released by Fairfax County despite facing charges of raping a child under the age of 13. SANCTUARY COUNTY REFUSED 615 ICE TRANSFER REQUESTS, TURNED OVER JUST 11 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, RECORDS SHOW SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER The month before, ICE arrested Guatemalan illegal immigrant Roni Mendez-Escobar after he was released while charged with possession of child pornography with intent to distribute. That same month, ICE lodged detainers for Salvadoran illegal alien Israel Christopher Flores-Ortiz, who was convicted of nine counts of assault and battery for groping underage girls at a Fairfax County high school; Guatemalan illegal alien Misael Lopez Gomez, who was charged with murder and felony child abuse after allegedly bludgeoning his 3-month-old daughter to death; and two illegal alien murderers, Maldin Anibal Guzman-Videz and Luis Alonzo Sort-Portillo, who were convicted of stabbing a man to death and given plea deals of five years in prison each. In March, ICE also lodged a detainer for Anibal Armando Chavarria Muy, an illegal alien from Guatemala who was charged with second-degree murder after allegedly fatally stabbing a man inside his home in Bailey’s Crossroads. Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger’s office and Descano’s office for comment.
Platner’s three-day vetting job comes back to haunt Dems as rape allegation rocks Senate bid
Democratic operatives reportedly commissioned a brief, low-cost background check on Graham Platner before launching his Senate campaign, a decision that appears to be backfiring as new allegations and controversies engulf the candidate and Democrats call on him to drop out. Candidate vetting, which has become standard practice in high-stakes elections, is a process that often takes several weeks and tens of thousands of dollars to properly complete. Democratic strategist and top Platner staffer Dan Moraff, however, paid just $6,250 for a background check on Platner that took only three days, sources familiar told the Wall Street Journal. Vetting processes are undertaken to help ensure prospective elected officials don’t have personal baggage that could, if discovered, derail their candidacy. HOW GRAHAM PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN UNRAVELED: FROM REDDIT POSTS TO RAPE ALLEGATION Platner faces a rape allegation from one former girlfriend and separate allegations of abusive behavior from another, all of which he denies. The Maine Senate hopeful has also faced scrutiny over a Nazi-linked tattoo that he got during his time in the Marine Corps, as well as over sexually explicit texts he sent to other women while he was married. While these issues didn’t come up in the brief risk-assessment memo produced for Platner’s campaign, some controversial items that have since been reported did, the Wall Street Journal reported. SEE IT: MAINE VOTERS SOUND OFF ON PLATNER’S DIVISIVE CAMPAIGN AS CRUCIAL PRIMARY NEARS: ‘HE’S A DISGRACE’ “The firm sent us a thing and it had some of the posts, but it didn’t have all of them,” Moraff told the Wall Street Journal, referencing Platner’s now-deleted Reddit posts. Using the since-deleted Reddit account, Platner denigrated members of the United States armed forces, going as far as to state that one wounded veteran deserved to die due to his conduct under fire. He also made comments alluding to familiarity with prostitution and hard drugs, as well as expressing support for political violence and socialism. Platner has since apologized for the posts, attributing them to psychological trauma incurred during his time in the military as well as the gruff culture he became accustomed to while serving as an infantryman. When asked by the Wall Street Journal what he thought when initially shown the posts, Moraff said that he told Platner “none of this will or should stop you from becoming a US senator.” DEMOCRATS ABANDON EMBATTLED CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER AFTER RAPE ALLEGATION IMPLODES SENATE BID “If what the voters wanted were people who were grown in vats and had never done or said anything that they might regret their entire lives, we’d have a very different country,” Moraff continued. “Part of our thesis here is that people do not want their candidates grown in vats. They want people who are real human beings and they want people who do not look and sound like the lab grown people who’ve been leading this country off a cliff.” A Platner campaign official told the Wall Street Journal that they didn’t have the resources to pay for a more thorough vetting of Platner, claiming that even a more robust background check would not have turned up any additional useful information about him. The background check did not include interviews or require Platner to fill out a questionnaire, according to The Wall Street Journal. While a number of prominent Democrats have rescinded their endorsements of Platner, he has so far resisted calls to drop out of the race. If Platner ends his campaign before July 13, Democrats could find someone to replace him on the ballot. “So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” Platner said in a video denying the rape allegation against him on Monday. “Those were the goals when we launched this campaign, and they remain my goals today.” The New York Post reported Tuesday, citing sources, that Platner was refusing to drop out unless he could help choose his replacement. The Platner campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
Talarico campaigns with surgeon who operated on transgender minors: ‘Wolf in sheep’s clothing’
Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is facing questions after fundraising with a “female-to-male” top surgeon who previously operated on minors shortly after saying that he does not support sex-change surgeries for children. Talarico, a progressive Democrat, state lawmaker and Presbyterian seminarian, is running a highly competitive race to flip a Texas Senate seat for the first time in decades. He is opposing Republican state attorney general Ken Paxton. The seat is critical to both parties’ hopes of holding a Senate majority this next session. During an appearance on the “Unity Over Division” podcast on June 8, Talarico responded to criticisms that he supports gender transition for minors by stating, “I oppose gender reassignment surgeries for minors.” Days later, he participated in an Austin “Pride for Talarico” fundraiser that featured Dr. Dustin Reid, a female-to-male breast surgeon who confirmed with Fox News Digital that he previously operated on minors in “rare” cases prior to Texas banning the practice. He said that he no longer performs these surgeries in line with Texas law. SENATE HOPEFUL SAYS TEXAS HOME TO THE ‘BEST DRAG QUEENS IN THE NATION’ IN RESURFACED COMMENTS Speaking with Fox News Digital over the phone, Reid confirmed his participation in the event in support of Talarico. He said that “in the past, on a case-by-case basis, I would do that [female-to-male surgeries on minors] but not since they made it illegal in Texas.” His practice’s website currently states he “does follow the WPATH (World Professional Association for Transgender Health) standards for patients under the age of 18.” Reid clarified that, in line with WPATH’s guidelines, he previously performed FTM surgeries on minors, saying “it was rare but not completely unheard of.” “There were occasions where someone would be under 18 and everyone involved in their care agreed that it was the best decision for this patient. But that was, like I said, rare because, for the most part, I like people to make the decision as an adult.” WPATH’s “Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People” state that the association recommends health care professionals suggest “gender-affirming medical or surgical treatments” for adolescents only when said minor meets a set of conditions. These conditions include that the minor “meets the diagnostic criteria of gender incongruence,” which is “marked and sustained over time,” that the child “demonstrates the emotional and cognitive maturity required to provide informed consent/assent for the treatment,” and that “the adolescent’s mental health concerns (if any) that may interfere with diagnostic clarity, capacity to consent, and/or gender-affirming medical treatments have been addressed.” WPATH requires minors receiving sex-change surgeries to be “informed of the reproductive effects, including the potential loss of fertility.” The guidelines also state that while “in most settings, for minors, the legal guardian is integral to the informed consent process … for unique situations in which an adolescent minor is consenting for their own treatment without parental permission … extra care must be taken to support the adolescent’s informed decision-making.” As Texas attorney general, Paxton notably recently joined the state in the Federal Trade Commission’s suit, which alleges that WPATH “falsely asserts that its recommendations are the result of rigorous scientific procedures and expert consensus, even though WPATH disregarded established guideline- development standards, ignored the results of its own evidence reviews, and removed age limits in response to external pressure rather than scientific evidence.” TALARICO SAYS HE ‘HATES CHRISTIANITY’ IN UNEARTHED INTERVIEW WITH TRANSGENDER ‘LATINX’ THEOLOGIAN Meanwhile, the website for Reid, who practices out of the Restora Austin Plastic Surgery Centre, says he has “extensive experience in FTM [female-to-male] top surgery.” The center’s website features a large picture on the top of its page on FTM surgeries showing a young individual ripping a piece of paper with the word “female.” Reid’s personal website features several before and after pictures of surgically removed breasts. The site states that “with over a decade of experience, he is known for delivering masculine, natural-looking results while providing a patient-first experience.” The website claims that “patients travel from across Texas and the United States because they trust his exceptional skill—and his empathy.” “Our clinic provides an affirming, inclusive environment where your identity and goals are honored,” says the website. When asked by Fox News Digital, Reid said he could not recall how many such surgeries he performed. While saying he does not oppose the ban outright, he told Fox News Digital that “a total ban on anything in medicine can be problematic.” “For the most part, I think the bar should be higher for gender-affirming care or surgery in minority patients, but it shouldn’t be banned because, like I said, there were times where on a case-by-case basis it was the right thing for the patient,” he said. While Talarico has recently come out against sex-change surgeries for children, he voted against a bill banning the practice in Texas in 2023. Around the same time, he said the ban on transgender surgeries for minors “infuriates me” and listed it as one of “the most dangerous” bills passed in Texas. In a podcast appearance that same year, Talarico said the ban stemmed from the “Christofascism” movement. In another speech that year, he said that if Jesus visited the Texas legislature, he would say, “Blessed are the trans children who are bullied.” SHOCK POLL: TALARICO TIES PAXTON IN TEXAS SENATE RACE, THREATENING GOP STRONGHOLD SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Talarico’s pride fundraiser this June also saw the participation of the Human Rights Campaign’s political action committee, which has endorsed his Senate run. The Human Rights Campaign previously opposed the Texas ban on what it called “evidence-based, life-saving health care for transgender adolescents.” Today, the group holds that “medically-necessary health care for Transgender people (called gender-affirming care) is under threat nationwide.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Human Rights Campaign for comment. Following his participation in the Austin event, Lone Star Liberty PAC spokesman Gregg Keller criticized Talarico, telling Fox News Digital he “is lying to
Top Platner ally turns on him after bombshell rape allegation rocks campaign: ‘Red line’
Support for embattled Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner is cratering among Democrats, with one of his most prominent supporters calling on him to exit the race following a harrowing rape allegation. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., rescinded his endorsement and called on Platner to suspend his campaign following a bombshell Politico report detailing a rape allegation by Maine resident Jenny Racicot, 41, who previously dated the scandal-plagued candidate. Platner immediately denied Racicot’s account — which alleges that he barged into her home in 2021 and forced her to have unprotected sex — but has said his campaign is determining its next steps. She also went on CNN Monday evening shortly after the report was published to tell host Jake Tapper that “by dictionary definition” Platner “raped” her. DEMOCRATS BREAK WITH SCANDAL-PLAGUED GRAHAM PLATNER, WARN OF ‘CIVIL WAR’ IN PARTY “I thought, here’s a man who was drunk and who, by dictionary definition, raped me. And he’s blaming drunk women,” Racicot said. “So I just felt like that was a very odd take to have on that. And I also feel like with all of the comments that he made about women, sexual assault, rape, even, um, you know, the comments that he had made that was in The New York Times article about, you know, threatening people with rape, like, why does this person have this issue, like scattered throughout their life, throughout their commentary, like it‘s on their mind?” “I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” Khanna said in a post on social media Monday evening. “These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.” Khanna’s statement preceded Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., the head of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, issuing a joint statement calling on Platner to “immediately” leave the race, so the party can choose a new nominee. The pair said the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) would not invest in Maine — a top pick-up opportunity for Democrats in November’s midterm elections — if he continued to seek the battleground seat held by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Both Schumer and Gillibrand supported Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, in the contentious primary and did not endorse Platner until he won the party’s nomination. Meanwhile, Khanna, a far-left populist with likely presidential ambitions, had embraced Platner’s insurgent Senate campaign for months amid a patchwork of controversies. Khanna personally campaigned with the Maine Senate hopeful in June shortly before Platner became the party’s nominee. The campaign stop came just one day after Lyndsey Fifield, a former Platner girlfriend, accused Platner of abuse — an allegation first reported by The New York Times that Platner has fiercely denied. By that point, Platner was also facing scrutiny for sending sexually explicit messages to at least half a dozen women while married, making a plethora of offensive online statements over the period of a decade and getting a Nazi-linked tattoo that he wore for most of his adult life. Shannon Watts, a Democratic strategist and founder of the gun control group Mom Demands Action, slammed the timing of Khanna’s statement. “You flew to Maine to campaign with him AFTER he was accused of assault against another woman,” Watts wrote on social media. Khanna previously appeared to dismiss the severity of Fifield’s account alongside many Democratic lawmakers, who seized on her background in Republican politics. He also argued that Platner, a combat veteran who has struggled with PTSD, had overcome a dark past and was deserving of redemption. “Here you have a case of someone who had a dark chapter in his life, was in toxic relationships, was ashamed about it, who served this country, and the Maine voters are saying, ‘Look, let’s give him some grace, and his focus is stopping these wars, and it’s getting national health insurance, and it’s taking on economic inequality,” Khanna told CBS News in an interview. WATCH: DEM SENATORS EXCUSE PLATNER’S CONDUCT AT CRISIS HUDDLE WITH EMBATTLED MAINE CANDIDATE And Khanna told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum in June that he asked Platner if there were any credible allegations of sexual assault that had yet to be revealed. He said Platner denied it. “I made it clear that, for me, is a red line,” the California lawmaker said. “And he said, no, there is not.” “Now, obviously, he had texts that were allegedly consensual, and while he was married, And that’s a matter for him and his wife. And his wife came out and said that she forgave him. And so that is a different matter for me than abuse or assault or what people did in the Epstein class. It’s a very different matter.” Khanna was not the only prominent Platner supporter to disavow the Senate hopeful following Monday’s rape allegation. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., an early Platner supporter, was the first prominent Democrat to rescind his endorsement after Politico’s report broke. Meanwhile, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., rescinded his endorsement Monday evening, but stopped short of calling on Platner to exit the race. Gallego, a former ally of disgraced ex-Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., has faced scrutiny over his past treatment of women. The Senate Ethics Committee recently dismissed a complaint brought by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., in a bipartisan manner. His Arizona colleague, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who did not endorse Platner, also called on the Senate hopeful to suspend his campaign. “Character and accountability matter regardless of party,” Kelly wrote on social media. “It’s time for Graham Platner to drop out and allow for someone else to be nominated and give Democrats the best chance to win this seat in November.” Far-left Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who has championed socialist candidates across the country, also distanced himself from Platner on Monday. “This is beyond red flags. This is irredeemable,” Piker said during his livestream. Fox News Digital reached out to Platner’s campaign for comment.
Report warns Russia using shadow fleet to probe NATO drone defenses
As NATO allies prepare to meet in Turkey, at the top of their agenda will be drone warfare and Russia’s testing of the NATO alliance. Using its shadow fleet of old sanction-busting ships, Russia appears to have launched drones at European military bases and airports to test the reaction time of NATO allies and their air defenses, according to a new report published by the International Institute of Strategic Studies, or IISS. Between August 2024 and February 2026, 144 suspected drones were recorded near sensitive military and nuclear sites in Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, and Denmark, and over American air bases in the UK in November 2024. UKRAINE’S BATTLEFIELD IS TRANSFORMING THE FUTURE OF NATO “There’s no doubt in my mind that the Russians are using the shadow fleet vessels as a platform to get different types of drones in closer to various European countries,” said Ret. Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, who served as the commanding general of US Army Europe until 2018. In Germany there were more than 1,000 suspicious drone sightings in 2025, over German defense companies and military bases where Ukrainian soldiers were training in Germany. “Whoever is doing it is testing the reaction of the authorities, is testing how the public will respond, will they panic, will they blame their politicians and the authorities,” asked Elisabeth Braw of the Atlantic Council. “Also they are testing perhaps to see how we as European countries or how European countries might react in a real crisis there.” This spate of unmanned aerial vehicles occurred in air space over a dozen NATO states and Ireland, the report states, “forcing repeated closures of major commercial aviation hubs, disrupting military operations and penetrating the perimeters of some of Europe’s most sensitive defence installations.” In 2025, mystery drones targeted military bases in the Netherlands and Belgium where the US is thought to base its B61-12 nuclear gravity bombs and France’s ballistic-missile submarine base at Île Longue. “It’s a combination of espionage,” Hodges said. “But also psychologically to create a lot of anxiety in populations to scare them so that they would put pressure on their governments not to support Ukraine.” RUSSIAN GENERALS’ ASSASSINATIONS EXPOSE GROWING RIFT INSIDE PUTIN’S SECURITY APPARATUS The Russian drone campaign appears designed to probe the response times and decision-making thresholds of allied air defense and civil-military command structures. It also seeks to identify vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure, including dual-use civilian facilities, military logistics hubs supporting Ukraine, and sites associated with the Alliance’s nuclear deterrence. Additionally, the campaign aims to impose economic and psychological costs on European societies by disrupting civilian aviation, undermining public confidence in airspace security, and fostering distrust and panic. Finally, it appears intended to normalize low-level airspace violations that remain below the threshold likely to trigger a direct Allied military response. Those sightings peaked in late 2025, and forced the temporary closure of several European airports, including in Germany, Spain and Denmark. Sweden is the only European country to accuse Moscow directly after a drone launched at sea from a Russian spy ship flew near a French aircraft carrier. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied accusations of Russian sabotage and surveillance across Europe. “What’s the point of all this,” Putin asked of reporters recently. “Name even one proven fact.” AMERICA’S POWER GRID, FOOD SUPPLY AND MORE ARE UNDER THREAT FROM DRONES But IISS tracked the locations of Russia’s shadow fleet of ships used to evade sanctions and linked them to recent high-profile drone incidents, concluding that Russia could use the ships as a platform to launch the drones while creating deniability. Drones often don’t trigger radar. On Jan. 3, 2025, a Russian shadow fleet vessel, the Arctica, sailed along the Danish coast, while 20 drones flew over the port of Koege, Denmark, before disappearing at sea. On Sept. 22, drone sightings led to the closure of Copenhagen Airport. The IISS found several shadow ships were in the area at the time, including the Arctica and the Boracay. And it is not just in Europe. Dozens of unexplained drone sightings also have taken place in the U.S. in the past several years. In December 2023 at Virginia’s Joint Base Langley-Eustis unauthorized aircraft appeared in the skies above the base for 17 days straight, evading military tracking and forcing the Pentagon to bring in specialized assets — including a NASA WB-57 high-altitude jet — to investigate. In March drones flew near Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, home of the B- 52 H Stratofortress bomber, where drones came in a pattern to suggest they were attempting to avoid the operator or operators being located. Lights on the drones suggested the operators may be testing security responses at the base. Panicked sightings of drones near critical infrastructure along the East Coast of the United States in late 2024 led to the Trump administration ordering the declassification of these investigations shortly after the inauguration to ease public concern, concluding the drones were mostly those of hobbyists and that there was no evidence of a foreign threat related to the majority of reported sightings. The IISS says these are no hobbyists threatening NATO allies in Europe, with the most likely culprit launching the drones from shadow vessels at sea.