WASHINGTON — Lindsay Fifield, the first woman to publicly accuse Graham Platner, a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate from Maine, of abuse, criticized the New York Times on Tuesday. She claimed the publication exaggerated her story and political stance to benefit Platner’s campaign while misrepresenting her allegations.
Fifield detailed instances of physical aggression she experienced, such as having her arm twisted behind her back and being confined against her will. She expressed frustration in a post on X, stating that reporters Katie Glueck and Lisa Lehrer did not reach out to those who could support her claims.
“I get why Democratic leaders didn’t take our story seriously back in June, based on what the Times reported, but it’s clear they do now,” she noted in her post.
Fifield highlighted a particular line from the article that stated the Times was unable to corroborate her story, despite having spoken to two of her friends. “I had given them the contact information for five friends,” she clarified, pointing out that the reporters reached out only to those who weren’t informed about the abuse, focusing instead on confirming the timeline of her relationship.
Supporters of Fifield, who has worked on conservative campaigns previously, mentioned that she turned to the Times feeling her story carried more weight.
She added that she had provided Glueck and Lehrer with names of former roommates who had witnessed alarming behavior from Platner. Along with messages exchanged with these roommates, she shared an email to her landlord requesting to end her lease urgently for safety reasons, as well as a diary detailing her experiences, all time-stamped.
On Monday, another Maine resident, Jenny Racicot, with similar political views, came forward with severe accusations of rape against Platner. While Racicot initially spoke off the record, she felt compelled to reveal her story after becoming dissatisfied with how Fifield’s account was represented.
Fifield mentioned she was informed by the reporters that her contribution to their reporting would be minimal, thinking her experiences would merely back up Racicot and another anonymous woman. “Though Jenny and I haven’t met or talked, we shared eerily similar accounts of intimate partner violence and manipulative behaviors,” she concluded, expressing disbelief that the Times couldn’t substantiate her claims.
