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Maine progressive says he won’t back Schumer even after Democrats unite behind Collins challenger
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ELLSWORTH, MAINE — Graham Platner says he still wouldn’t support Sen. Chuck Schumer as Senate Democratic leader going forward, even after holding what he described as a «perfectly cordial conversation» with the top Democrat in the chamber.
Platner, an oyster farmer and Army and Marine veteran who served in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, will face off in this year’s midterm elections in blue-leaning Maine against longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins. The high-profile and competitive 2026 race is one of a handful across the country that will likely determine whether Republicans keep control of their slim Senate majority.
Platner, a first-time candidate, who is backed by progressive champions Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, became the Democrats’ presumptive nominee after his rival for the nomination, two-term Gov. Janet Mills, ended her campaign two weeks ago after trailing Platner in polling and fundraising.
Mills was supported by Schumer, who recruited the governor to enter the race.
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Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, right, called Senate candidate in Maine Graham Platner after he became the party’s presumptive nominee (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News Digital; Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
But Platner said what could have been a difficult conversation was anything but when he had a chance to speak with Schumer on the phone after Mills ended her bid.
«It was not awkward at all. He called to congratulate me on a good race, and nothing brings people together like agreeing that Susan Collins shouldn’t be in the U.S. Senate. So we had a perfectly cordial conversation.»
Platner said that «at this point, it very much feels that the Democratic Party will support us in our continued endeavor.» But he added «we’re going to keep doing what we’ve done up here, because it’s obviously what’s working.»
Platner is one of a small but growing number of progressive Senate candidates who say that, if elected in November, they won’t support Schumer as the Senate’s Democratic leader. Platner added that the topic of his lack of support for the Democratic leader didn’t come up in his conversation with Schumer.
Platner advocates an economically populist agenda as he takes aim at corporate influences and advocates for the working class as he runs for the Senate.
In an interview in Maine with Fox News Digital last week, Collins was asked if she believes Platner is too far to the left and extreme for voters in her northern New England state.
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«I believe that will be the conclusion of Maine voters. But, obviously, I don’t take anything for granted,» the senator, who is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate, answered.
But Platner charges that it’s Collins who is too «radical.»
«My response is that, trying to bring down costs for working Mainers. Trying to make sure that our communities don’t get emptied out because housing has become unaffordable for young people. Trying to create a system in which we are not seeing our health care system utilized as a way of just screwing working people all for the benefit of a health care insurance CEO, I don’t think that’s radical at all,» Platner said. «I think in fact that what most Mainers agree is what we have to be doing.»
And he charged, «What’s radical is somebody like Susan Collins, who, for decades now, has made sure that we pass policies that are going to help corporations and billionaires to the detriment of working people, supporting over and over and over again, illegal and insane foreign wars. She voted to send me to Iraq, and now she continues to vote to support the war in Iran,» Platner said. «I’m sorry that I think is much more radical to the people of Maine than having a health care system that doesn’t collapse before our eyes.»
Platner enlisted in the Marines in 2003 and served three combat tours in Iraq. In 2010, he joined the Maryland Army National Guard for a fourth tour, serving in the infantry in Afghanistan. He returned to Afghanistan eight years later as a security contractor.
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It’s been less than two weeks since Platner became the Democrats’ presumptive nominee, and Republicans didn’t waste any time in taking aim at him.
A Republican group supporting Collins is already blasting Platner in a new ad over controversial comments he made over a decade ago on Reddit about women and rape and a well-publicized tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, left, and Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner (Fox News and Getty Images)
Among the comments is one from 2013, which Platner later deleted, that people concerned about rape should not «get so f—ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to.»
Platner apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after they made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign. And Platner has said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He said that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol.
The candidate said he’s not concerned about the attack ad, which is likely just a taste of things to come.
«The Democratic establishment tried to use all those attacks against me and failed miserably,» Platner said as he referred to a spot from the Mills campaign before she dropped out of the race. «Now the Republican establishment is going to try to use the exact same attacks, and that will also fail miserably.»
Platner insisted that «the people of Maine understand exactly what this is. They’re not happy to see millions of dollars poured into negative TV ads in a state that, quite frankly, could use million dollars of investment in lots of other things instead of just negative television. And I don’t think it’s going to work, because it hasn’t up until this point.»
And pointing to the Republican attack ad, he said «we knew it was coming the whole time. Look, man, I fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Somebody wants to say….mean things about me on television, I’m pretty sure I can handle it.»
Platner has also faced scrutiny for more recent Reddit posts, including one from five years ago where he described himself as a «communist» and «socialist.»
«You should read the comments in context. It’s very clear I’m joking,» he told Fox News Digital when asked about them. «It’s called shitposting. It’s when you argue with people on the internet and try to bother them. So, yeah, no, it’s very obviously not true.»
Graham Platner, the Democrats’ presumptive Senate nominee in Maine, holds an energy event in Ellsworth, Maine on Monday, May 11, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Platner was interviewed minutes after casting an early voting ballot in Maine’s primary and then holding an event near a gas station to showcase his newly released energy plan, which he says will help reduce people’s bills.
His proposal includes eliminating the national gas and diesel tax, a freeze on electricity rate increases and a fund for clean energy projects.
Platner said his energy plan is «very central» to his campaign. «I think energy costs right now are one of the things that are most damaging working families in this state. It is, in my opinion, essentially an existential crisis that we face.»
Democrats are spotlighting the cost of living as they overperform in special elections, which they hope is a prelude to winning back control of Congress in the midterms.
Republicans — as the party currently in power in Washington, D.C. — were already up against traditional political headwinds that typically lead to a loss of congressional seats. Add to that the challenging climate fueled by persistent inflation, rising gas prices tied to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran and Trump’s underwater approval ratings.
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Asked how she can overcome the blame pointed at Republicans over the high cost of living, Collins told Fox News Digital last week that she’s championed the low-income heating assistance program, which «helps low-income families and seniors stay warm during the cold winter months. I just recently made sure the final tranche of money was released because there is a lot of need in the state of Maine, and the cost of living is high here.»
Collins, who was interviewed at a food bank that expanded with federal funding the senator helped obtain, also emphasized her opposition to cuts «in food stamp benefits and in other programs that designed for low-income families because I know how important they are.»
chuck schumer, bernie sanders, midterm elections, elizabeth warren, senate elections, maine, democrats elections
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A prisión, exdirector de la Autoridad Nacional para la Innovación Gubernamental de Panamá, acusado de peculado
Mientras se encontraba en una zona de playa de la provincia de Coclé, a unas 2 horas de la ciudad de Panamá, el exdirector de la Autoridad Nacional para la Innovación Gubernamental (AIG), Luis Oliva, fue detenido por los supuestos delitos de peculado, corrupción de servidores públicos y asociación ilícita para delinquir.
La detención de Oliva, quien fungió como director de la AIG de 2019-2024, bajo la administración del expresidente Laurentino Cortizo, fue ordenada por un juez de garantía y volvió a poner el foco sobre un organismo estatal clave en la estructura tecnológica del país.
La AIG tuvo a su cargo áreas sensibles de modernización administrativa y gestión pública.
El caso de Oliva quedó ligado a presuntos hechos de corrupción dentro de una dependencia con peso en la operación institucional panameña.
La Contraloría General de la República determinó un presunto incremento patrimonial de Oliva por más de $937,000.
Fuentes judiciales indicaron que la acusación incluyó peculado, corrupción de servidores públicos y asociación ilícita para delinquir.
Esa combinación colocó el expediente en un plano mayor que el de una irregularidad administrativa aislada, porque apuntó a un posible esquema delictivo articulado desde el Estado.
Oliva ya cumplía una medida cautelar de reporte periódico los 14 y 28 de cada mes, así como un impedimento de salida del país, luego de que en septiembre del 2025 se le formularan cargos por peculado, corrupción de servidores públicos y asociación ilícita para delinquir.
Los cargos están relacionados con presuntas irregularidades en la gestión de la plataforma Vale Digital, que luego pasó a llamarse Listo Wallet, implementada por el gobierno durante la cuarentena total por el Covid-19 para entregar subsidios a trabajadores, según el diario Critica.
En 2020 el gobierno, a través del Ministerio de Comercio e Industrias y la AIG anunció el inicio del plan piloto en la primera abarrotería de la ciudad capital para cambiar el Vale Digital, apoyo económico entregado a los panameños suspendidos de sus plazas laborales y afectados por la pandemia ocasionada por el Coronavirus o Covid-19.
En esa oportunidad, Oliva señaló que “el inicio de este plan piloto para canjear el Vale Digital en las abarroterías le permite al ciudadano estar más cerca de sus hogares sin necesidad de tener que trasladarse en transporte público o tener que asistir a grandes concentraciones en supermercados. De igual manera, les permite a los negocios pequeños ingresar a nuevos medios de pagos digitales”.
Pero, ante los constantes tropiezos de esta plataforma, se creó Listo Wallet en 2022 para que los usuarios del Vale Digital y el PASE-U recibieran sus pagos.
Al año siguiente, en octubre, Luis Oliva presentó su renuncia irrevocable a la entidad, para aspirar a una fallida candidatura a diputado.
A finales del 2023 el exadministrador de la AIG, Luis Carlos Stoute, presentó una denuncia por la cesión indebida de los derechos exclusivos a dos empresas para beneficiarse y lucrar de la plataforma Vale Digital, de acuerdo con medios de prensa.
La denuncia de Stoute, presentada ante el Ministerio Público, fue ignorada por la Presidencia de la República y por el entonces contralor, Gerardo Solís.
Stoute fue separado del cargo que ocupaba en febrero del 2024.
La Autoridad Nacional para la Innovación Gubernamental, establecida mediante la Ley 65 de 30 de octubre de 2009, es la entidad que lidera la transformación digital del Estado panameño, con el objetivo de mejorar la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos, disminuir la brecha de desigualdad e incrementar la competitividad del país, se lee en su página web.
cdla,ciudad de las artes de panamá,discursos,hombre,inauguraciones,interior,políticos,presidentes panameños
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President Donald Trump is turning foreign-influence laws that once ensnared figures in his own orbit toward left-wing activist networks accused of benefiting from overseas money and support.
Once seldom enforced criminally, FARA became a more prominent tool at the DOJ after 2016, including in cases involving several figures in Trump’s orbit as well as some prominent Democrats. Now, legal experts say that FARA and other laws dealing with foreign influence are emerging as a potential weapon in Trump’s campaign against left-wing activist networks.
«Unfortunately, it seems clear that the Biden administration went overboard and tried to use FARA as a political weapon against allies and supporters of President Trump instead of concentrating on real national security threats and those acting on behalf of foreign governments and principals without disclosing it as required by the law,» Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, a think tank founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, told Fox News Digital.
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The Trump administration has increased scrutiny on organizations it perceives as politically biased and misusing U.S. taxpayer dollars. (Getty Images)
FARA requires people acting in the United States on behalf of foreign governments or political parties to disclose their relationships, activities and funding to the Justice Department. While the law has been on the books for decades, criminal prosecutions related to it have become more common from 2016 onwards, engendering resentment among conservatives who feel they were unfairly targeted by the Justice Department.
«Prior to the Mueller gang and the deep state using it against Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn, FARA was rarely, if ever used for criminal purposes,» Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told Fox News Digital. «It was seen as a paperwork issue … anti-Trump fanaticism turned it into a weapon to put people in jail.»
FARA prosecutions were relatively rare prior to the first Trump administration, with only seven criminal cases being prosecuted between 1966 and 2015. In 2018 alone, however, the Department of Justice charged more than 20 individuals and entities with FARA violations.
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Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks as Attorney General Pam Bondi and President Donald Trump listen during a press conference with FBI Director Kash Patel in the Oval Office of the White House on Oct. 15, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
During the first Trump administration and the Biden administration, many of those targeted by the Department of Justice for undisclosed links to foreign governments were viewed as close allies of Trump.
Paul Manafort, Trump’s 2016 campaign chair and a long-time GOP consultant, for instance, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States in 2018 in connection with his activity as an unregistered foreign agent for Ukraine.
Michael Flynn separately came under scrutiny for his firm’s work tied to Turkish interests, while his criminal plea involved false statements to the FBI about conversations with Russia’s ambassador. Flynn’s business partner was convicted of acting as an undisclosed agent of Turkey, though the conviction was eventually overturned and the investigation was dropped by the Justice Department.
Conservatives were not exclusively targeted during the last two administrations, however.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat, Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, and Linda Sun, a former Democratic staffer, all faced foreign influence investigations under the Biden administration.
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President Donald Trump holds a note handed to him by Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a roundtable on antifa at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 8, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
The pattern of right-wing politicos getting caught up in alleged foreign influence schemes continued into the Biden administration, with Rudy Giuliani, GOP megadonor Stephen Wynn and Trump associate Tom Barrack all being investigated for foreign ties.
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi wound down FARA enforcement upon taking office in 2025, narrowing prosecutions to activities resembling traditional espionage, citing the law’s purported weaponization under President Joe Biden. Fitton characterized this as a «reversion to the norm.»
In a departure from the prior two administrations, Spakovsky told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration is working to «implement a comprehensive national security strategy that integrates FARA as a tool,» citing a national security memo issued by the president in 2025.
NSPM-7, the memo referenced by Spakovsky, is a Trump administration directive ordering federal agencies to investigate and disrupt alleged networks behind domestic terrorism and organized political violence. It specifically directs the Department of Justice to scrutinize foreign ties and investigate possible FARA violations in order to investigate advocacy groups, nonprofits, donors and activists linked to alleged political violence.
Some groups on the right and left have criticized the memo for potentially targeting constitutionally protected expression. The ACLU, for instance, argued that it could chill free speech since the document explicitly calls out «anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism and anti-Christianity» as dangers to the United States.
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Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn looked on before President Donald Trump delivered remarks at the Department of Justice on March 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Trump was expected to outline steps his administration would take to address what he described as the «weaponization» of the department. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Spakovsky, however, argued that the memo simply implements changes that were recommended by career civil servants during the Obama administration.
«When looking at the directive, another important point on FARA is to go back to a very revealing report issued by DOJ’s Inspector General in 2016 in which it criticized DOJ’s lack of enforcement of FARA, including during the Obama administration,» he said. «It recommended that DOJ develop a comprehensive enforcement strategy that was integrated with DOJ’s overall national security efforts … This relatively new directive seems to be an effort to do exactly what the DOJ IG recommended ten years ago – implement a comprehensive national security strategy that integrates FARA as a tool.»
Though FARA is seen by many as the obvious mechanism to address foreign influence, if it is indeed being exerted on American activists, some legal experts are skeptical about relying on it alone.
«FARA is a powerful tool. It’s just a difficult tool to use,» Jason Torchinsky, a partner at the law firm Holtzman Vogel, told Fox News Digital. «It is a powerful tool, but there are other tools they can use too.»
Torchinsky pointed to the recent investigation into Twitch streamer Hasan Piker and Code PINK co-founder Medea Benjamin, initiated by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, as an example of this.
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Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, was accused of accepting more than $500,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan-owned energy company and a Mexican bank. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
«If these guys literally are shipping things to Cuba in violation of sanctions, that’s pretty easy,» he said. «You don’t have to prove any intent … OFAC sanctions are just such an easy crime to prosecute, because it’s like, you did X, I have evidence you did X, and it was prohibited … it’s a really nice sort of cut and dry criminal case.»
Trying to bring FARA charges into the mix, according to Torchinsky, could lead to unnecessary complications.
Torchinsky, who specializes in government ethics laws, noted that prosecuting violations of FARA often proves problematic as defendants can sometimes credibly claim their actions are protected by the First Amendment. Other options, he said, may be more attractive to prosecutors attempting to address foreign political influence.
Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Zack Smith, added that prosecutors need to prove that those accused of violating FARA knew they were breaking the law at the time of their conduct, which he called «a very high standard.»
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U.S. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and former Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke with the media in the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 18, 2026. Bondi and Blanche briefed the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform privately about the Epstein files. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
«The IRS has tools that allow them to revoke the nonprofit status of nonprofits that are acting illegally,» Torchinsky continued. «There’s a concept in internal revenue law called the illegality doctrine. The idea is that you can’t set up and operate as a nonprofit, something that’s illegal.»
Nonprofit organizations accused of providing material aid to foreign terrorist organizations, for instance, could be prosecuted by the administration without the Justice Department having to prove that they acted as unregistered foreign agents.
«Criminal statutes like wire fraud, bank fraud, those types of statutes could come into play, particularly if those carrying out these foreign influence operations are receiving cash or payments or some other type of compensation for taking part in these operations,» Smith added.
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President Donald Trump attends an event in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2026. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
Some, however, see FARA as an indispensable tool in fighting foreign influence.
«I look forward to a quiet life outside of politics. With a fire-pit and beehives,» Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican from Florida, posted to X on Wednesday. «Until then I am going to make it my mission to get the FARA office back up and running. The political divide in this country is a foreign op from multiple countries and it’s sad.»
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President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on May 25, 2026. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Torchinsky noted that the presidential national security memo laid out some laws other than FARA that the administration could use to target foreign-backed political agitators.
«You can go after these folks, particularly these entities that are engaged in violence,» he said. «They’ve got conspiracy against rights, solicitation of a crime or violence, money laundering, funding terrorist acts or facilitating terrorism, arson offenses, RICO, and fraud against the United States.»
«For example, organizing protests and violence at companies that are in the F-35 supply chain, like Palestinian groups are doing, is potentially a solicitation of acts of violence,» Torchinsky added.
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«Now, I suspect this is the beginning of a larger conversation over FARA, whether it needs to be revised, how it needs to be revised, what this regime will look like going forward to combat foreign influence in the United States,» Smith, the Heritage fellow, said. «But fundamentally, there should be broad agreement that foreign influence, particularly foreign influence directed at influencing our elections, our political discourse, is very problematic. Appropriate action should be taken to combat it.»
The Department of Justice, Treasury Department, and Code PINK did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital.
national security, investigations, counter terrorism, sanctions, justice department
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