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

[lapucelle]

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/

[yourout]

1. Welp.. you're fired.

Last edited Sun May 31, 2026, 07:26 PM - Edit history (1)

[oldmanlynn]

2. Are we starting the Democratic circular firing squad here?

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

[lapucelle]

5. There will be three Democrats on the June 9 ballot, and voters will rank their choices.

[MontanaMama]

6. Well we can't support another predator

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

[oldmanlynn]

21. Sexting isnt being a sexual predator

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

[MontanaMama]

22. It's predatory behavior

if the two people involved are not communicating in a consensual manner or there’s a power imbalance or any coercion involved. Republican talking points? Nope. Just basic human decency.

[niyad]

11. Is it okay with you that he has such people on his staff?

[dem4decades]

27. I guess it's Collins again then.

[niyad]

28. SMDH

[betsuni]

29. Like when Platner voted for her.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Campaign calling it gossip and falsehoods.

After Platner admitted to wrong doing.

Story not making sense.

What is the truth?

[lapucelle]

4. Genevieve McDonald responded on Facebook.

Link to tweet

[leftstreet]

7. LOL she's destroying her career over this?

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

No one will trust her near a campaign ever again

[lapucelle]

8. Yes, she is destroying her career over this, and no she did not take the payoff

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

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

[leftstreet]

9. Doesn't seem worth it

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_]

17. A woman shouldn't be taking the blame for a man's bad actions

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

[JCMach1]

30. Maybe because she already got paid double by AIPAC

Just speculation and not a particular fan of Platner, but AIPAC has been pulling some toxic mess this cycle.

[lapucelle]

31. What are you even talking about?

Yes, toxic messes have been (and continue being) pulled this cycle.

[lapucelle]

32. "Just spitballing here, but maybe *AIPAC'* paid her double."

[Nixie]

10. Doesn't it say "multiple sources"?

It’s all strange.

[lapucelle]

12. In addition, it may be that Platner's sexts were on his Kik account,

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]

14. Kik was a new one for me. Had to look that up.

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]

13. Yes, of course

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]

16. She's an experienced politician

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

[betsuni]

26. She acted with her conscience.

[AZProgressive]

15. If you work for a campaign and you request information from the candidate

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_]

18. And how should a person in a committed relationship act?

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

[AZProgressive]

19. It seems the people in the committed relationship worked it out

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]

20. He was sexting with at least six women.

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.

[MontanaMama]

23. This.

It’s a pattern of behavior that’s disturbing and disqualifying. Once again, people blaming the women in this guy’s periphery. Same shit, different day.

[EdmondDantes_]

25. Well given Platner has denied the sexting, not so much on working it out

But if you're going to blame someone for outing that Platner continually makes really poor decisions, you're making it a sexist issue by not blaming the guy who keeps making poor life choices. As a man and as a society we need to do better about not shifting the blame to someone who didn't cause the problem.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

24. She wasn't part of the campaign when she passed it on to the WSJ. She left the campaign when his Reddit comments

came out.