https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/us/politics/jenny-racicot-cnn-interview-graham-platner.html
Jenny Racicot, who accused Graham Platner of sexual assault in an interview published in Politico on Monday, detailed her recollection of the alleged attack in an extended interview with the CNN host Jake Tapper that aired on Monday evening.
Ms. Racicot had described some of what happened that night to The New York Times this spring, saying that he had arrived at her house drunk after she had asked him not to come over. At the time, she declined to share further details of the encounter on the record, but she said she had found his behavior “reckless” and “unsettling” and had cut off contact with him soon after that episode.
She said on CNN that at the time she “felt really protective of my own privacy.” But after the article came out and she was named in it, she said, “I kind of just made the decision that I’m going to say my piece and get it out there.”
“I understand why people want someone like him in office, and I felt like me coming forward would essentially potentially take that away,” she said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/us/politics/graham-platner-maine-assault.html
https://removepaywalls.com/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/us/politics/graham-platner-maine-assault.html
It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Platner intended to continue his campaign against Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican. He has until July 13 to withdraw from the race, and if he does the state Democratic Party has until July 27 to replace him on the ticket, according to Maine state law. The leadership of the state party urged him to withdraw.