#political-scandals

#political-scandals

A few weeks ago, Katie Porter's campaign for California governor was reeling. A day after an irritable TV interview went viral, an old video surfaced of the former Orange County congresswoman cursing and berating one of her aides. Around the same time, the race for U.S. Senate in Maine was shaken by a number of disturbing online posts. In them, Democratic hopeful Graham Platner disparaged police and Black people, among other crude remarks.

A few weeks ago, Katie Porter's campaign for California governor was reeling. A day after an irritable TV interview went viral, an old video surfaced of the former Orange County congresswoman cursing and berating one of her aides. Around the same time, the race for U.S. Senate in Maine was shaken by a number of disturbing online posts. In them, Democratic hopeful Graham Platner disparaged police and Black people, among other crude remarks.

The Washington Roundtable discusses the trove of Jeffrey Epstein correspondence released by Congress this week, the fractures it has caused in the Republican Party, and the potential political ramifications for President Trump.

So, who is Graham Platner? Like, what did we know about him before last week? Up until about a month ago, he was a pretty anonymous political figure, which I think is instructive of how certain factions of the Democratic Party got themselves into this mess. Basically, Graham Platner is a guy from Maine and a former marine who completed several combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2003 and 2016.

Cawthorn, who turned 30 in August, frequently ended up in the headlines during his only term in Congress, but almost always for his controversial comments and scandalous activities rather than any legislative accomplishments. He racked up multiple traffic violations, including driving with a revoked license (twice). He was busted for trying to board a plane with a gun (also twice). He was accused of violating the STOCK Act by failing to disclose crypto investments.

A Republican senator invited over for a bill signing said Trump took him and others to see what the president called "the Monica Lewinsky Room," scene of the trysts between Bill Clinton and a certain White House intern.

Weiner stated that politicians like himself and Donald Trump can survive scandals primarily because male candidates face less scrutiny compared to their female counterparts, such as Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton.

Weiner denied being the first step in a butterfly effect that led to President Donald Trump, putting the blame on then-FBI Director James Comey's actions.

I think, arguably, it is worse actually.