New York Times Under Fire for Failing To Corroborate Allegations Against Platner

In the aftermath of a sexual assault allegation against Maine Democratic Senate hopeful Graham Platner, the New York Times is facing accusations of “journalistic malfeasance” that its June report about his “unsettling” behavior was actually designed to discredit claims against him.On Monday, Politico published an account of one of Mr. Platner’s ex-girlfriends, Jenny Racicot, who alleged that he sexually assaulted her in 2021. Ms. Racicot shared emails with her therapist talking about her plans to share her story with Politico, and the outlet was connected to a friend and a man she dated after Mr. Platner, who said that she had told them about the alleged assault. Mr. Platner’s campaign said in a statement that it “vigorously denies” the allegation, which it said was “coached and coordinated by out-of-state establishment operatives” as it noted it was published a week before the deadline to withdraw. While the report appears to have sent Mr. Platner’s campaign into a tailspin, with Democrats and liberal organizations withdrawing their endorsements and urging him to drop out, it has also led to criticism of the Times. In June, the Times published an article about the Senate hopeful’s “unsettling behavior.” The paper said that several women interviewed said he could be “charming,” but “some found his actions intimidating and disturbing.”One of the women, Lyndsey Fifield, who dated Mr. Platner between 2013 and 2015, told the paper that he had been “rough with her” and grabbed her hard enough to leave marks, though he never punched her. The Times said that it could not corroborate her claims and that Ms. Fifield — whom it described as a “Virginia conservative” — said she did not expect her friends to corroborate her allegations. While the article fueled concerns about Mr. Platner, some Democrats, such as Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, dismissed the allegations. Mr. Whitehouse told NOTUS that the report “seems like a lot of nothing. I mean, the only one who had anything to say that seemed ‘unsettling’ was a woman who works for right-wing political operations.”Ms. Fifield — who, in June, accused the Times of a “set up”— wrote on X on Tuesday morning that she “understand[s] why Democrat leaders didn’t take our stories seriously when the Times reported them in June but are taking them seriously now. It was by design.”Ms. Fifield said that the “most shared” line from the Times’ story was that the reporters “could not corroborate” her allegation. However, she said she gave the reporters contact information for five friends, two of whom she said could not corroborate the allegation but would back up her timeline. “They simply did not call the other three,” she said. “I also gave them the names of all my former roommates who remembered him stalking our row house (which was about 5 houses down from his) and waiting for me to return. I gave them screenshots of messages between these roommates and I discussing it.”A conservative writer, Emily Zanotti, wrote on X that she was one of the friends whose information was given to the Times, and said the reporters never contacted her. Ms. Fifield also wrote that the Times reporters said they did not need to “bother” her ex-fiance or her priest, after she told them she had discussed Mr. Platner’s behavior during pre-marital counseling. She said that the Times’ reporters promised her that she would not be a major part of the story and that her account would “only serve to affirm” Ms. Racicot’s story and another woman’s account. Ms. Racicot was also interviewed for the Times’ June story and reportedly shared the details of the alleged assault. The Times reported that Ms. Racicot told reporters that Mr. Platner “arrived at her house drunk, after she had asked him not to come over.”“She declined to elaborate, but said she cut off contact soon after that episode and found his behavior ‘reckless’ and ‘unsettling,’” the report said.Ms. Racicot told Politico she did, in fact, elaborate about the “unsettling” behavior. While the allegation could not be attributed to her in reporting as it was off the record, it was unclear why the Times said she “did not elaborate.” The Times did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. Ms. Racicot told Politico she “didn’t go public with the specific assault claim because she didn’t want to be known as a rape victim.” However, she said she decided to come forward due to the controversy surrounding the Times’ report and the focus on Ms. Fifield’s conservative background.“My part of the story was just a read-over,” Ms. Racicot told Politico. “And the story was Lyndsey, and the accusations of her being politically motivated.”A former Times reporter, Alex Berenson, wrote on X, “This may get very ugly for @nytime A victim of sexual misconduct (at a minimum) by Graham Platner explains in detail how she provided the Times the evidence it could have used to corroborate her story — and how the Times ignored it. This is deep journalistic malfeasance.”A conservative commentator, Jonah Goldberg, wrote on X, “It sure sounds like the Times didn’t just F this up purely by accident.”A fellow at Independent Women, Inez Stepman, wrote, “This is beyond the usual leftist hagiography. This is playing the role of a campaign operative, one without a moral compass at that.”Mr. Platner criticized the “inaccuracy” of the reporting about his behavior, but said he is “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward” as he faces a July 13 deadline to decide whether or not to drop out while still leaving time for Democrats to replace him on the ballot.

New York Times Under Fire for Failing To Corroborate Allegations Against Platner

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