Did Graham Platner campaign pay his wife Amy Gertner $30K? All we know amid Dem Maine Senate candidate's sexting scandal
Amid the sexting scandal, a bombshell report claims that the wife of Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic Senate nominee from Maine, Amy Gertner, has garnered close to $30,000 since September of the last year as a paid staff member for his campaign,
By the conclusion of March, Gertner had received a total of $28,751.59 from the Graham for Maine campaign, based on disclosures from the Federal Election Commission, reported NY POST.
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All on Graham Platner’s sexting scandal
Platner’s campaign has faced significant turmoil due to revelations that surfaced over the weekend, showing that he engaged in sexual messaging with a minimum of six women via the Kik chat application, which is commonly utilized for casual encounters. The New York Times, the first to disclose Gertner’s role as a compensated campaign staff member, highlighted that she brought the messages to the attention of a senior aide within the campaign.
In response to the Times and the Wall Street Journal’s reports regarding Platner’s misconduct, the campaign published a standalone video featuring Gertner discussing her husband’s behavior.
Amy Gertner reacts
“It makes me really angry, disappointed, and I find it really shameful that there’s a group of media outlets and people who are willing to spread gossip, instead of talking about real issues that Graham is running on, like health care and education and child care,” Gertner stated in the video, which prompted some critics on social media to compare her to a hostage.
“I admire the f— out of him. So when there are news articles about our marriage, it’s just extra sh—y,” she went on. “Can I say that online? I hope I can.”
What was Graham Platner’s response to bombshell report?
When directly asked about the accuracy of the allegations, Platner responded to the outlet: “The Wall Street Journal and New York Times ran stories without any evidence besides the gossip from a former staffer. I’m sorry, that’s frankly journalistic malpractice.”
The Journal reported on Saturday regarding Platner’s extramarital sexting — which his campaign has since acknowledged may involve as many as six women — while also disclosing that he maintained an active account on the private messaging application Kik, commonly used by individuals seeking casual encounters.
Platner’s profile picture on Kik was a selfie taken in a bathroom mirror, in which he was clad only in a towel.
“We talked about things in Amy and I’s marriage that we’ve gone through over the years. We talked about that, because that’s our marriage, and we discussed it with the campaign,” Platner said.
In an unusual turn of events, Gertner was the individual who alerted campaign staff about her husband’s actions.
Platner is anticipated to obtain the Democratic nomination on June 9, as there are no significant challengers following Maine Governor Janet Mills’ withdrawal from the race on April 30.