‘F—ING IDIOTS’: Top female operatives torch Platner enablers as rape allegation rocks Dem campaign

Shannon Watts put Bernie Sanders, Ro Khanna and others who endorsed Platner on notice for ignoring red flags

2026-07-07T17:24:13-04:00 / Fox News

By Leo Briceno Fox News

Published July 7, 2026 5:24pm EDT | Updated July 7, 2026 6:00pm EDT

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6400461657112

Dems flee Graham Platner campaign after new allegations

Fox News correspondent Alexis McAdams details the deepening crisis for Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Plattner, now facing calls from Bernie Sanders to withdraw after a former girlfriend accused Plattner of rape in 2021, adding to existing controversies like a Nazi tattoo and previous physical abuse allegations. Contributor Jason Chaffetz reacts to the political fallout after Platner lost key endorsements following the allegations.

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Neera Tanden and Shannon Watts, a pair of top Democratic political operatives, are calling on Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner to step down amid a bombshell rape allegation that emerged Monday.

Tanden, the CEO of the Center for American Progress, a center-left think tank that had deep ties to the Biden and Obama administrations, has been critical of Platner for months.

“I will remain incredibly angry at the people who didn’t vet this candidate, but in life you don’t get the best choices. Unless people show a lot more courage than they have,” Tanden said in an X post that was re-upped Monday.

TOP PLATNER ALLY TURNS ON HIM AFTER BOMBSHELL RAPE ALLEGATION ROCKS CAMPAIGN

Neera Tanden, nominee for director of the Office and Management and Budget, testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs committee on her nomination during a hearing at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Feb. 9, 2021.(Leigh Vogel/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

In addition to calling for his removal, Tanden and Watts are also strongly cautioning the party about its next move as the state nears the Nov. 3 general election.

Platner, who has fended off stories about a Nazi tattoo, past online comments on race and relational infidelity, came under renewed fire Monday afternoon when Politico reported that he had allegedly raped a former girlfriend, Jenny Racicot, while heavily intoxicated after allegedly being told repeatedly to stop.

She also went on CNN Monday evening shortly after the report was published to tell host Jake Tapper that “by dictionary definition” Platner “raped” her.

“I thought, here’s a man who was drunk and who, by dictionary definition, raped me. And he’s blaming drunk women,” Racicot said. “So, I just felt like that was a very odd take to have on that. And I also feel like, with all of the comments that he made about women, sexual assault, rape, even, um, you know, the comments that he had made that was in The New York Times article about, you know, threatening people with rape, like, why does this person have this issue, like scattered throughout their life, throughout their commentary, like it‘s on their mind?”

Platner has denied the allegations, calling them “troubling, serious, and false.”

The Platner campaign posted a video on X shortly after the Politico story published where Platner again called the allegations “false,” adding he was going to “reflect” on the best path forward.

“So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” Platner says in the video. “Those were the goals when we launched this campaign, and they remain my goals today.”

Watts, who has grown in prominence through advocacy with her gun control organization, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, immediately highlighted the story, criticizing party figures who, in her view, had blown past warning signs about Platner’s behavior.

“MAYBE LISTEN TO WOMEN IN THE PARTY YOU F—— IDIOTS!!!!” Watts wrote in a post on X.

“Who endorsed him despite the fact that he said bigoted, racist and sexist things online? Despite his Totenkopf tattoo? Despite accusations of domestic assault? Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Ruben Gallego, Martin Heinrich, Ro Khanna. Who am I missing?” Watts added.

EXPLOSIVE SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATION ROCKS PLATNER CAMPAIGN AHEAD OF KEY DEADLINE IN CRUCIAL SENATE RACE

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner stand together during a Fighting Oligarchy tour stop at the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus in Orono, Maine, May 24, 2026.(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

With the state Democratic Party calling on Platner to step aside, Watts wasted little time setting her sights on a possible replacement.

She began striking out against letting someone like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., handpick an alternative.

“Bernie Sanders — the worst judge of character in history — hasn’t yet condemned the fatally flawed candidate he forced upon the Dem Party in Maine, likely causing us to lose the Senate. Why? He’s going to try and hold us hostage until we pick his other sh—- candidate,” Watts wrote, likely referring to Troy Jackson, another progressive in the state.

Notably, Sanders dropped his endorsement of Platner on Tuesday and called on Platner to drop out of the race.

Jackson, a former Maine Senate president, faces allegations of his own, having reportedly gotten into a physical altercation with a female colleague, according to Progressive Victory, an advocacy group.

“So no, we’re not going to pick this f—— guy,” Watts wrote in another post, highlighting Progressive Victory’s statement on Jackson.

Tanden also hinted at her disapproval at the idea of swapping Platner out with another up-and-coming progressive.

“Isn’t the most democratic thing to do here is select the candidate who won the most votes in the Gov’s race? I think they were all pretty good, but that might be the most credible with voters,” Tanden wrote.

Like Watts, Tanden criticized voices suggesting Jackson might be a suitable alternative.

SANDERS BREAKS SILENCE ON PLATNER, CALLS ON SCANDAL-PLAGUED PROGRESSIVE TO ‘STEP ASIDE’

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at his primary election event June 9, 2026, in Blue Hill, Maine.(CJ Gunther/Getty Images)

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“Maybe the people who got us into this mess should take a beat on the right path for the future. And I say that with the utmost respect to Ro Khanna,” Tanden said, highlighting a post from Khanna that noted Jackson’s achievements just hours after the news about Platner had broken.

Khanna, who had fiercely supported Platner, rescinded his endorsement on Monday along with several other high-profile Democrats, who are calling on Platner to drop out of the race.

Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.

Trump administration plans new ICE holding facility near Louisiana deportation flight hub

July 7, 2026 6:19pm EDT / Fox News

The 528-bed Louisiana site could be operational as soon as August

By Landon Mion Fox News

Tom Homan: Democrats ‘lying’ about ICE facility conditions

Border czar Tom Homan disputed claims of inhumane conditions at a New Jersey ICE facility. Homan said, ‘Democratic politicians were lying’ about alleged hunger strikes and mistreatment after personally inspecting the medical, recreation and housing units. He found the facility well-maintained, even eating the same meal as detainees to verify food quality.

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The Trump administration plans to open a new migrant holding facility next to an airport hub in Louisiana, potentially allowing the federal government to speed up deportations of families and unaccompanied children.

A holding facility with 528 beds is set to open in Alexandria, Louisiana, near the Alexandria International Airport (AEX), according to The Associated Press.

The proximity to the airport is believed to make it easier for federal immigration officials to house illegal immigrants and unaccompanied children during final flight preparations, the outlet reported.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is describing the new Louisiana facility as a “staging area” and not a detention center, saying migrants would only be held there for a few days at most.

NEW YORKER SUING ICE AFTER OFFICERS WENT TO HIS HOME TO WARN HIM OVER CRITICISM OF AGENCY

The Trump administration plans to open a new migrant holding facility next to an airport hub in Louisiana.(John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

“England Airpark is a staging facility for deportations. A staging facility is where illegal aliens await their deportation flight to their destination country or transfer to a detention facility,” a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, which deferred to DHS.

Airpark officials at the airfield where the structure is being built said the facility is a “humanitarian effort” for families who are “self-deporting.” Immigration advocates say families and unaccompanied children sometimes decide to leave due to pressure or a lack of an understanding of their options, The AP reported.

The facility would be stationed next to the nation’s largest hub for deportations.

More than 4,400 immigration enforcement flights came to and from the Alexandria International Airport last year, according to data from the ICE Flight Monitor, an initiative of Human Rights First.

ICE documents say families and children at the facility “are in the legal custody of ICE and can only be released at the direction of ICE.”

The agency has told contractors that families at the facility should not be referred to as prisoners, detainees or inmates, records show.

Contractors were instructed not to utilize bars or cages when transporting families and unaccompanied children. The facility will not be required to take headcounts and should allow families to wear their own clothes, the agency said.

The facility would be stationed next to the nation’s largest hub for deportations.(John Moore/Getty Images)

Unaccompanied children are typically not taken to facilities overseen by ICE and must instead be placed in the care of state-licensed shelters and foster care programs, which are run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Department of Health and Human Services. But that agency is not involved in the new facility’s operation, a spokesperson at the airfield where the facility is being built told The Associated Press.

The facility would be run by a nonprofit arm of LaSalle Corrections, a private prison contractor, according to Ralph Hennessy, executive director of the England Airpark Authority, who said it could be operational as early as next month.

“These are people that are volunteering to go back home, and they’re going back home as a family unit,” Hennessy told The Associated Press.

ICE signed a contract late last month to build the facility at the former military base near Alexandria International Airport, Hennessy said.

APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN FROM HOLDING MIGRANTS WITHOUT BOND FOR OVER 90 DAYS

ICE is describing the new Louisiana site as a “staging area” and not a detention center.(David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

The facility would operate as a 72-hour holding center for migrants awaiting deportation, records show, according to The Associated Press.

LaSalle Corrections runs several private prisons and federal immigration detention centers throughout the south, including the “Louisiana Lockup” inside the state’s maximum-security prison in Angola.

The official contractor for the new ICE holding facility will be the company’s nonprofit arm, the LaSalle Family Foundation, but LaSalle Corrections will be involved in operating the holding facility and ensuring compliance, according to the company’s chief financial officer, Tim Kurpiewski.

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Since April, two detainee deaths have been reported at a LaSalle-run ICE facility in the state.

Winn Correctional Center was also found last month to have violated standards regarding environmental health and safety, food service, use of force, medical care and other concerns, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Ford recalls more than 177,000 vehicles over faulty wiper, drivetrain and other issues

July 7, 2026 / 5:04 PM EDT / CBS News

Ford Motor is recalling more than 177,000 vehicles for three separate defects, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The Detroit automaker is recalling:

• 67,842 Mustang (2024-26 model years) and Mustang GTD (2025-26 model years) vehicles over a windshield wiper and washing system malfunction.
• 42,784 Mustang Mach E (2021-23 model years) vehicles over a pinion shaft fracture risk.
• 66,383 Lincoln Nautilus Hybrid (2024-27 model years) and Explorer Hybrid (2025-27 model years) vehicles due to a software error that can prevent them from producing a pedestrian warning sound.

The windshield wiper and washing system malfunction affecting some Mustang vehicles can occur in cold temperatures, according to NHTSA. The wipers may only function at their high-speed setting, while the washing system may fail completely.

Consumers may take affected vehicles to dealers, who will make any necessary repairs free of charge. Vehicle owners can expect to receive letters this month informing them of the safety risk. NHTSA’s number for the recall is 26V418000.

The pinion shaft problem can result in a loss of drive power or cause a parked vehicle to move if its parking brake is not engaged. Dealers will make any necessary repairs free of charge, NHTSA said. The agency’s recall number is 26V417000.

Lincoln Nautilus Hybrid and Explorer Hybrid vehicles with pedestrian warning sound systems at risk of failure are eligible for a free system replacement. NHTSA’s recall number 26V415000.

In late June, Ford also recalled more than 741,000 vehicles over a faulty park system that left drivers vulnerable to their cars rolling away.

Edited by Alain Sherter

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/ford-ceo-discusses-auto-industry-affordability-amid-rising-gas-prices-and-economic-uncertainty/

Dem with White House ambitions ripped after backing two scandal-plagued candidates: ‘Troubling’

Sen Ruben Gallego drops Platner months after he also rescinded endorsement of Eric Swalwell over sexual misconduct allegations

July 7, 2026 7:51pm EDT / Fox News

By Alec Schemmel

Fetterman calls on Bernie Sanders to apologize for backing Platner

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., discusses sexual assault allegations against Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’

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Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who has left the door open to a 2028 presidential run, is facing new questions about his judgment after rescinding support for a second Democratic candidate accused of misconduct involving women.

Gallego rescinded his endorsement of Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner on Monday after a rape allegation surfaced. The move comes just months after Gallego was forced to pull his support from Eric Swalwell’s disastrous California gubernatorial bid amid separate allegations of sexual assault and misconduct.

Both Platner and Swalwell have denied the allegations against them. In a social media post on X announcing he would be withdrawing his support for Platner, Gallego called the accusations against him “troubling and deeply serious.”

Meanwhile, Lyndsey Fifield, Platner’s former girlfriend who has publicly accused Platner of abusive behavior, called out Gallego after the Arizona senator withdrew his Platner endorsement Monday, suggesting Gallego had ample warning signs before finally abandoning the embattled Maine Democrat.

DEM SENATOR FACES DOJ PROBE AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF SPENDING CAMPAIGN FUNDS ON LUXURY LIFESTYLE

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.(Getty Images)

“Mine weren’t sufficiently troubling or serious for you, right?” Fifield questioned in response to a social media post on X from Gallego, referring to the accounts of her relationship with Platner provided to the New York Times and published several weeks ago.

Fifield’s allegations were included in a June 4 New York Times report examining Platner’s past relationships, in which she alleged that he repeatedly grabbed her hard enough to leave marks, pulled her from a cab by the wrist and, in one incident, twisted her arm behind her back and held her in a room while they were dating several years ago. Fifield told the Times that Platner never hit or punched her, but said the alleged incidents left her shaken and afraid. Platner denied being violent and called the allegations false.

Still, Platner drew support from influential Democratic figures before and after the Times report. “Pod Save America” co-host Jon Lovett acknowledged after the June 4 story that the Times had reported allegations that Platner was “intimidating and even physically aggressive with past romantic partners,” but argued Democrats had to weigh whether they preferred “a Democratic majority with Graham Platner in the Senate” or a Republican majority with incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

TOP PLATNER ALLY TURNS ON HIM AFTER BOMBSHELL RAPE ALLEGATION ROCKS CAMPAIGN: ‘RED LINE’

Fellow co-host Jon Favreau had previously praised Platner as Democrats’ “best and only chance” to beat Collins and as a “good, decent man who’s struggled and grown and is always trying to do better.”

Graham Platner, Democratic US Senate candidate for Maine, during a primary election night event at the Blue Hill YMCA in Blue Hill, Maine, US, on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. Progressive Democrat Graham Platner won the party’s Senate primary in Maine after a bruising campaign which became as much about his accusations of past misbehavior as it was voters’ top concerns.(Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Senator Gallego did the right thing and broke with those individuals when he learned they had betrayed values he proudly fights for,” a Gallego spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

But Senator John Fetterman, D-Pa., said people like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., needed to apologize for backing Platner, telling Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that he “refused” early on to look past the claims.

“What he did, is he effectively broke in her home – he went in her home without her consent, then he came upstairs and assaulted her. She also described that created a dangerous situation for a possible pregnancy because of those circumstances, what he’s done,” Fetterman said of the latest allegations.

DEMS UPHILL CLIMB FOR SENATE MAJORITY JUST GOT A LOT STEEPER WITH LATEST PLATNER ALLEGATION

“He was already a dead man walking politically,” Fetterman continued. “Even those Pod Save America people who pushed that dirtbag, and they dismissed those things in the New York Times article, maybe they ought to apologize to the women that clearly they didn’t believe, or they dismissed.”

“I know Democrats that have back-to-back endorsed and gone all in on Swalwell and were on the Platner train as well too. So, maybe stop getting in bed with absolute dirtbags – someone like Platner,” Fetterman added.

A Fox News Digital review of public endorsement announcements and press reports found Gallego was the only sitting member of Congress clearly identified as having endorsed both Swalwell and Platner. Separate state and local affiliates within the SEIU and AFL-CIO labor union networks were involved in each race, but they were not the same endorsing entities.

Democratic Party candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine Graham Platner (left) and former Democratic Party Rep. Eric Swalwell (right)(Getty Images)

“The allegations against Platner are awful but are also unsurprising to anyone who actually read the NYT catch-and-kill story. The victim strongly implied the allegations there,” Former chief counsel to Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, Mike Fragoso, said this week after the latest round of allegations against Platner.

The latest allegation came from Jenny Racicot, a Maine Democrat who said she dated Platner on and off from 2019 to 2021 and had previously spoken to the Times for its June story. Racicot alleged in a Monday Politico report that Platner entered her home uninvited in late 2021 after she told him not to come over, was intoxicated, ignored her repeated objections and forced her to have sex. Politico reported that it reviewed text messages and emails with Racicot’s therapist and spoke with people she said she confided in after the alleged assault. Platner has once again denied the allegation as false.

HOW GRAHAM PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN UNRAVELED: FROM REDDIT POSTS TO RAPE ALLEGATION

Gallego joined several other prominent Democrats after the Politico report in rescinding support for Platner, or calling on him to exit the race, while Democratic operatives face a tight window under Maine election law to replace him if he withdraws.

“Gallego’s judgment is troubling,” Republican Arizona state Senator Warren Peterson said. “Another Gallego endorsement going down in flames.”

“There is a bizarre pattern of Gallego, who claimed complete ignorance of his friend Eric Swalwell’s alleged abusive treatment of women and is now doing the same with Graham Platner,” said Fox News Media contributor and George Washington University law professor, Jonathan Turley.

“For Schumer’s PAC, Senatorial, Gallego, the Pod Bros, et al. the only real difference now is polling,” said Fragoso in terms of the changing sentiment towards Platner.

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., talks to reporters as he heads for a vote at the U.S. Capitol on Jun. 1, 2026 in Washington, D.C.(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Meanwhile, conservative commentator Ryan Girdusky took aim at Gallego’s personal history, writing on X, “Ruben Gallego is dropping Graham Platner like he’s a pregnant wife.”

The jab comes as Gallego has also faced separate scrutiny in reference to his 2016 divorce from then-wife Kate Gallego, who was pregnant at the time.

Unsealed divorce records reportedly showed that Gallego filed for divorce on Dec. 15, 2016, and that his own motion to seal the case noted Kate Gallego had “not yet been served” but was “likely to give birth any day.”

In addition to scrutiny over his divorce, Gallego has faced complaints over his campaign spending on family travel, childcare and other personal expenses. A week ago, Politico reported that Gallego used campaign money on family trips to Miami, Saint Barthélemy, Disneyland, Disney World and Chicago. He also used funds to attend the 2023 Super Bowl in Arizona, but the senator insisted that the tickets were a legitimate campaign fundraising expense.

Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca and Katelyn Caralle contributed to this report.

Alec Schemmel is a Politics Reporter for Fox News Digital who is originally from Charlotte, North Carolina but now resides in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore Metro Area.

Mitch McConnell, Joe Biden and the growing epidemic of politicians hiding health problems

2026-07-07T20:14:32.322Z / CNN

There was a national reckoning after the 2024 presidential campaign about federal officials — Joe Biden and his White House, specifically — hiding important health information from the public.

But the hiding hasn’t stopped. If anything, it appears to be getting worse.

Increasingly, some very high-profile public officials seem to have concluded that constituents and the broader public simply aren’t entitled to basic information explaining lengthy absences from their jobs. And their staffs are enabling them.

Republican Rep. Tom Kean of New Jersey recently returned to the House after spending more than 100 days away with no explanation at the time, ultimately citing depression. Now, questions are building about the also-mysterious and now-weekslong absence of GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

The former Senate majority leader has been missing from the chamber since being hospitalized on June 14. But his office has repeatedly declined to say why he was hospitalized, including when reached by CNN on Tuesday.

“Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital,” his office said, reissuing the same statement it first shared last week. “The senator continues to improve and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”

Beyond that, the details are slim. An independent reporter shared EMS audio of a “cardiac arrest” at McConnell’s Washington, DC, home on the day he was hospitalized. The audio cited someone being unconscious.

But McConnell’s office hasn’t even verified whether that call involved the 84-year-old, who has dealt with public health episodes including freezing in front of reporters.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on June 15 that he had spoken to McConnell and was “hopeful that he’ll be back this week.” But three weeks later, that still hasn’t happened, nor has McConnell’s office explained why.

That’s led even some prominent MAGA figures to cry foul and demand more disclosure, while others traffic in conspiracy theories.

Apparently some of McConnell’s colleagues are even in the dark. While responding early Tuesday to a critic who wondered why senators weren’t speaking out about what ailed McConnell, GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said that was “because we know nothing about his condition.”

Thune and Senate Whip John Barrasso issued separate statements via spokespeople on Tuesday that they both spoke with the Kentuckian on the phone this week and had “substantive” and “lengthy” conversations. Neither addressed his health status.

And a McConnell ally, CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings, posted on X on Tuesday that he also spoke with the senator that day about various topics. He didn’t say anything about McConnell’s health, either.

Before Kean and McConnell, there was the case of GOP Rep. Neal Dunn of Florida.

While Dunn hadn’t been absent long term, rumors circulated about a serious health condition. Then Trump at a March White House event said Dunn had faced a “terminal” condition and that he would have been “dead by June” before the president intervened to help him get a procedure involving stents.

“OK, that wasn’t public,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at the time, sitting at Trump’s side. “But yeah, OK. It was grim.”

Dunn acknowledged receiving help from Trump but declined to elaborate on his condition. Like McConnell, he has now been missing from Congress since mid-June, with his office declining to comment to local reporters.

Similarly, we learned in December 2024 that then-Texas GOP Rep. Kay Granger’s monthslong absence before her retirement was largely spent at a local memory care and assisted-living home, dealing with what her son described as dementia — none of which Granger’s office disclosed.

Months before that, it was Biden’s decision to hide his increasing health problems and run for reelection — as documented extensively by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson in their book “Original Sin” — that blew up the 2024 presidential race.

Former first lady Jill Biden recently said she worried he was having a stroke during his disastrous debate performance, even though she defended it at the time.

Throughout his time in politics, now-President Donald Trump has been opaque about his own health:

• His doctors often issue hyperbolic letters featuring frankly unbelievable claims about his supposedly pristine health. (The doctor who wrote one of them a decade ago has said the letter was dictated by Trump.)
• He at one point appeared to hide his use of a hair-loss drug.
• The White House last year ultimately disclosed Trump had a vein condition after people noticed his swollen legs.
• And later in the year, the White House was remarkably slow to explain why Trump had additional medical imaging, with the president at one point saying he didn’t even know what part of his body was scanned.

And in late 2023 and early 2024, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s unexplained absences — which were later explained as undergoing treatments for prostate cancer — created increased risks to national security, per the Pentagon’s watchdog. Austin’s absences were even kept secret from White House and top national security officials for days.

Austin later explained in testimony to Congress that he was “a pretty private guy” and suggested he didn’t fully appreciate the need to keep people apprised of his health.

“But I’ve learned from this experience, taking this kind of job means losing some of the privacy that most of us expect,” he said. “The American people have a right to know if their leaders are facing health challenges that might affect their ability to perform their duties even temporarily.”

And that gets at the tension here. Nobody wants their health information to be publicly aired. But holding a government office means fitness for the job is very much the public’s business. The taxpayers pay that salary, after all, and are tasked with deciding whether a person deserves that job.

When people can’t perform their duties in a normal job, they usually need to tell their bosses why. And, technically speaking, a government official’s boss is the voters.

Even as Austin uttered those words and the Biden administration dealt with the fallout of his unexplained absences, of course, the head of the very same administration was hiding his own conditions. He did so at a significant cost to his party and in ways that might have rewritten American history.

But that apparently hasn’t dissuaded others from deciding their health status is none of the public’s business.

埃及主帅怒斥判罚不公“被欺骗” 再不看余下世杯赛

2026年7月8日 07:04 / 联合早报

埃及主帅哈山（黑衣）向主裁判莱特西耶表达不满，结果被出示黄卡。 （法新社）

（亚特兰大法新电）埃及在领先的情况下惨遭阿根廷逆转，也遇到几个具争议的判罚，遗憾在世界杯16强被淘汰出局。埃及主帅哈山（Hassan）赛后炮轰球队遇到“不公平的欺骗”，他不会再观看剩下的世界杯比赛。

哈山在火药味十足的记者会上说：“我不想把话说得好听，也不想谈什么运气不好。我们今天遭到不公平的欺骗，遇到不公正的待遇。”

埃及在1比0领先后，他们的前锋济科（Ziko）第60分钟有一个进球被判无效，录像助理裁判（VAR）介入，发现阿提亚（Attia）在早期曾对阿根廷后卫利桑德罗·马丁内斯（Lisandro Martinez）犯规。

虽然济科七分钟后进球，将领先优势扩大到两球，但被逼到绝境的上届冠军阿根廷绝地反击，连进三球逆转。

进球被吹后也没获得罚球

在领先的情况下惨遭阿根廷逆转，埃及球员们赛后都黯然神伤。（路透社）

但争议并未就此结束。在恩佐·费尔南德斯（Enzo Fernandez）攻入阿根廷制胜球的进攻过程中，埃及认为阿根廷中场麦卡利斯特（MacAllister）在禁区内拉拽法蒂（Fathy），裁判本应判给埃及罚球。

哈山说：“我们没看到尊重和公平竞赛。这里没有尊重，也没有公平竞赛。

“一个罚球被抹掉了，甚至没有经过VAR检查。第二个进球被非常离奇地判无效。我们所有人都看到（球衣）被向后拉拽的画面，但甚至没有进行VAR检查。

“我不会继续关注这届世界杯的比赛，也不会再观看这届的比赛。这是我表达抗议的方式。”

哈山：他们不想梅西被淘汰

哈山也直指，裁判官员或许受到压力，要让阿根廷球星梅西（Messi）继续留在本届赛事。

他说：“也许他们想让世界冠军继续留在赛事中，也许他们想让梅西继续竞争。在足球中，有时会有超出技战术层面的外部因素。世界冠军在各个层面都得到支持。”

哈山还抱怨比赛被安排在当地时间中午12时开球：“安排这些比赛的人从来没有踢过足球。你绝不会把比赛安排在中午12时。中午你是去散步或吃早午餐的，不是去踢足球的。

“球员们应该什么时候吃饭？早上7时30分吗？无论场内还是场外，都有很多事情值得被质疑。”

点击《联合早报》世界杯专页，获知世界杯比分、赛程和最新新闻等资讯。

Navy identifies missing sailor in Arabian Sea whose helicopter made emergency landing

July 7, 2026 / 5:53 PM EDT / CBS News

By Kiki Intarasuwan

Kiki Intarasuwan is a news editor for CBS News & Stations.

The U.S. Navy on Tuesday identified Cmdr. Gabriel Edwards as the missing sailor who was aboard a helicopter that went down in the Arabian Sea on July 1.

Edwards, the commanding officer of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5, was missing when three members of the four-person MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter crew were rescued at sea after what the U.S. Navy said was an emergency water landing. The search for Edwards was suspended after more than 102 hours, the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said Sunday.

“The thoughts and prayers of every member of the Carrier Strike Group 10 team are with the Edwards family. While we are far from home, our heartfelt support remains at your side,” Carrier Strike Group 10 commander Rear Adm. Todd Cimicata said in a statement Tuesday.

Cimicata remembered Edwards as a “fearless leader” whose legacy will never be forgotten.

The U.S. Navy identified Cmdr. Gabriel Edwards as the sailor who went missing after an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter made an emergency landing in the Arabian Sea. U.S. Navy / Cmdr. Gabe Edwards Bio Photo

Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao said in a statement that he has directed that Edwards be posthumously promoted to his selected rank of captain.

“I am deeply grateful to every sailor and airman who took part in the search and who continue to support his family, friends, and shipmates,” Cao said.

Edwards was an Oakland, Oregon, native who had served for 20 years after earning a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and being commissioned through the Naval ROTC.

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He earned his aviator “Wings of Gold” in 2008 as a helicopter pilot and served with HSC-22, HSC-84, Naval Special Warfare Group (NSWG) 4, HSC-85 and assumed command of HSC-5 in July of last year, according to the Navy.

The search covered more than 14,000 square miles and involved multiple aircraft carriers, guided-missile destroyers, helicopter squadrons, anti-submarine squadrons and U.S. Air Force aircraft, according to the Navy.

Edwards is survived by his wife, Rebecca, and two children, the military said.

“We are profoundly grateful to every Sailor, aviator, and Airman who devoted countless hours, extraordinary skill, and unwavering determination in the effort to bring Gabe home,” Rebecca Edwards said in a statement. “Gabe has dedicated his life to serving his country with honor, courage, and commitment. He led with humility, integrity, and compassion, always placing himself last. To those who served alongside him, he was a respected leader and mentor. To our family, he is the love of my life, an extraordinary father to his children, and the foundation of our home. His greatest joy was always his family.”

The three crew members who were rescued were returned to the USS George H.W. Bush, to which the helicopter was assigned.

The cause of the emergency landing is under investigation, the Navy said. There was “no indication” that the helicopter was shot down by hostile action, according to the military.

Emily Mae Czachor and Mark Osborne contributed to this report.

Justice Department reaches another settlement with Trump adviser Michael Flynn

2026-07-07T20:19:27.924Z / CNN

By Holmes Lybrand

3 hr ago

PUBLISHED Jul 7, 2026, 4:19 PM ET

Federal agencies Russia

Michael Flynn speaks at the Rod of Iron Freedom Festival in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania, on October 11, 2025.

Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto/AP/File

Former Trump adviser Michael Flynn has reached another settlement with the Justice Department — this time for over $38,000 in retirement funds the Army had withheld from the former general after officials found he earned money from speaking at an event tied to the Russian government in 2015.

The new settlement comes on the heels of a separate settlement between Flynn and Trump’s Justice Department for over $1 million after he sued the government for wrongful prosecution. Flynn alleged the FBI tried to entrap him in the early days of the Trump administration, as investigators probed Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election.

CNN has reached out to lawyers for Flynn.

Flynn’s payouts could serve as a playbook for those who intended to apply for compensation through the now-defunct anti-weaponization fund the Justice Department set up earlier this year for those who believe they were victimized by the DOJ.

US Attorney General Todd Blanche listens to a reporter’s question during a press conference at the Department of Justice June 11, in Washingon, DC.

Win McNamee/Getty Images/File

Shortly after it was announced, and amid a flurry of criticism from Republican lawmakers, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told members of Congress the fund was dead. Despite Blanche’s assurances, a federal judge has asked Blanche to provide a sworn statement declaring the fund has been defunct. Blanche has so far refused.

In discussing the death of the fund, Blanche has suggested other paths for people who were alleged victims of the Justice Department — including through civil lawsuits like the one Flynn originally filed.

Flynn is not the only Trump ally to settle a lawsuit with the Justice Department. In April, the Justice Department awarded former Trump aide Carter Page more than $1 million after he sued over the government’s flawed surveillance of him in 2016 due to his Russian contacts.

Flynn’s settlement is still being ironed out, according to court records.

The anti-weaponization fund was established earlier this year as part of a settlement with Trump after his and many other people’s tax information was leaked to media outlets by an IRS contractor. In 2024, the contractor was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Despite his efforts, Blanche continues to face sharp criticism and questions over the fund and settlement as he nears a Senate confirmation hearing to become the attorney general, removing “acting” from his job title.

Critics are still raising concerns over a memo from Blanche tied to the settlement blocking Trump, his family and companies from any IRS investigations over past tax filings.

中国国防部：推动核力量现代化旨在维护全球战略稳定

2026年7月8日 07:09 / 联合早报

中国海军星期一（7月6日）中午发射一枚带有训练模拟弹头的潜射战略导弹。图为导弹发射升空。 （新华社）

中国海军组织潜射战略导弹试射引发区域国家批评，中国国防部称，推动核力量现代化旨在维护全球战略稳定。

据中新社报道，中国国防部新闻发言人陈曦星期二（7月7日）就潜射战略导弹试射答记者问。

陈曦称，中国人民解放军海军战略核潜艇组织潜射战略导弹试射，实现了预期目标。这是年度军事训练例行安排，符合国际法和国际惯例。中方事先向有关国家作了通报，体现了中国军队的开放与透明。

陈曦称，中国坚持走和平发展道路，奉行防御性国防政策，恪守自卫防御核战略，始终把自身核力量维持在国家安全需要的最低水平，不与任何国家进行核军备竞赛。中国推动核力量现代化旨在保障国家战略安全，维护全球战略稳定。

中国海军一艘战略核潜艇星期一（7月6日）中午约12时向太平洋海域试射一枚带有训练模拟弹头的潜射战略导弹。这是中国时隔近两年后，再度公开在太平洋试射洲际弹道导弹，引发日本、澳大利亚和新西兰等区域国家批评。美国国务院声明称，北京迅速且不透明地扩充核武器，令地区乃至全世界深感担忧。

Platner’s three-day vetting job comes back to haunt Dems as rape allegation rocks Senate bid

Platner’s $6,250 background check missed rape allegations, a Nazi tattoo and deleted Reddit posts

2026-07-07T16:46:43-04:00 / Fox News

By Robert Schmad Fox News

Published July 7, 2026 4:46pm EDT

Growing number of Democrats urge Graham Platner to drop out of Maine Senate race

Democratic leaders and strategists are pressuring Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner to exit the race amid severe sexual assault allegations reported by Politico. Melissa De Rosa highlights Platner’s controversial past, including a Nazi tattoo and disparaging Reddit posts, criticizing the Democratic establishment for vetting failures. Tudor Dixon notes the timing of the allegations is a strategic political move.

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Democratic operatives reportedly commissioned a brief, low-cost background check on Graham Platner before launching his Senate campaign, a decision that appears to be backfiring as new allegations and controversies engulf the candidate and Democrats call on him to drop out.

Candidate vetting, which has become standard practice in high-stakes elections, is a process that often takes several weeks and tens of thousands of dollars to properly complete. Democratic strategist and top Platner staffer Dan Moraff, however, paid just $6,250 for a background check on Platner that took only three days, sources familiar told the Wall Street Journal.

Vetting processes are undertaken to help ensure prospective elected officials don’t have personal baggage that could, if discovered, derail their candidacy.

HOW GRAHAM PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN UNRAVELED: FROM REDDIT POSTS TO RAPE ALLEGATION

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner.(Graeme Sloan/Getty Images)

Platner faces a rape allegation from one former girlfriend and separate allegations of abusive behavior from another, all of which he denies. The Maine Senate hopeful has also faced scrutiny over a Nazi-linked tattoo that he got during his time in the Marine Corps, as well as over sexually explicit texts he sent to other women while he was married.

While these issues didn’t come up in the brief risk-assessment memo produced for Platner’s campaign, some controversial items that have since been reported did, the Wall Street Journal reported.

SEE IT: MAINE VOTERS SOUND OFF ON PLATNER’S DIVISIVE CAMPAIGN AS CRUCIAL PRIMARY NEARS: ‘HE’S A DISGRACE’

Republican staffers, including National Republican Senatorial Committee staffers, protest outside the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., wearing towels to mock Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s reported Kik profile photo.(Nicholas Ballasy/Fox News Digital)

“The firm sent us a thing and it had some of the posts, but it didn’t have all of them,” Moraff told the Wall Street Journal, referencing Platner’s now-deleted Reddit posts.

Using the since-deleted Reddit account, Platner denigrated members of the United States armed forces, going as far as to state that one wounded veteran deserved to die due to his conduct under fire. He also made comments alluding to familiarity with prostitution and hard drugs, as well as expressing support for political violence and socialism.

Platner has since apologized for the posts, attributing them to psychological trauma incurred during his time in the military as well as the gruff culture he became accustomed to while serving as an infantryman.

When asked by the Wall Street Journal what he thought when initially shown the posts, Moraff said that he told Platner “none of this will or should stop you from becoming a US senator.”

DEMOCRATS ABANDON EMBATTLED CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER AFTER RAPE ALLEGATION IMPLODES SENATE BID

Susan Collins and Graham Platner.(Graeme Sloan/Getty Images ; Sophie Park/Getty Images)

“If what the voters wanted were people who were grown in vats and had never done or said anything that they might regret their entire lives, we’d have a very different country,” Moraff continued. “Part of our thesis here is that people do not want their candidates grown in vats. They want people who are real human beings and they want people who do not look and sound like the lab grown people who’ve been leading this country off a cliff.”

A Platner campaign official told the Wall Street Journal that they didn’t have the resources to pay for a more thorough vetting of Platner, claiming that even a more robust background check would not have turned up any additional useful information about him. The background check did not include interviews or require Platner to fill out a questionnaire, according to The Wall Street Journal.

While a number of prominent Democrats have rescinded their endorsements of Platner, he has so far resisted calls to drop out of the race. If Platner ends his campaign before July 13, Democrats could find someone to replace him on the ballot.

“So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” Platner said in a video denying the rape allegation against him on Monday. “Those were the goals when we launched this campaign, and they remain my goals today.”

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The New York Post reported Tuesday, citing sources, that Platner was refusing to drop out unless he could help choose his replacement.

The Platner campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Tuesday.