Married Democrat Senate Candidate ‘Sexted’ Other Women

Ken Silva
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Married Democrat Senate Candidate ‘Sexted’ Other Women

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Wall Street Journal revealed Saturday that Graham Platner, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine, shared sexually explicit text messages with other women in early 2025.

Platner’s “sexts” were disclosed to his campaign by his wife, Amy Gertner. The two have been married since 2023.

“In late August, as some aides were conducting opposition research on their own candidate, Gertner disclosed the texts to a campaign aide to make sure they didn’t pose a risk to her husband’s nascent campaign,” the Journal reported, citing anonymous sources.

“Aides ultimately decided the texts were a private matter that was being handled by the couple in marriage counseling, a campaign official said. The rally proceeded as planned, with thousands in attendance.”

In response to the latest scandal, Gertner told the Journal that her marriage to Platner is stronger than it’s ever been.

“We did the hard work that marriage requires. We went to counseling. We were honest with each other in ways that weren’t easy,” she reportedly said.

Additionally, the Journal reported Saturday that Platner has an account on the messaging app Kik, which is known to be inhabited by underage users. Platner’s campaign told the Journal that he had “long deleted the app from his phone but hadn’t deactivated his account.”

Saturday’s report is just the latest scandal in the upstart’s bid to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins this November.

Fox News reported earlier this month on Platner’s Reddit posts, which contain graphic sexual admissions about portable toilets and glowing descriptions of obscene military bathroom artwork.

A March 2017 entry on Reddit’s r/Military forum, for instance, captured Platner responding to a thread about memorable military smells. “I still have to jerk off every time I sit in a portas—-er… that blue water smell conditioned me,” he wrote.

A separate March 2021 post on Reddit’s r/USMC forum showed Platner waxing poetic about a crude penis illustration inside a portable toilet during an overseas assignment. In a thread celebrating so called “GWOT Dick Art,” Platner launched into lavish praise for the drawing, describing it as “beautiful,” “engorged and veiny,” and moving “towards its penetrative glory.”

Platner, who clinched the Democratic nomination after two term Governor Janet Mills abandoned her campaign last month, has also drawn fire over a New York Times interview concerning a 2013 post in which he suggested people worried about rape should not “get so f—ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to.” Further scrutiny has followed posts where he called himself a “communist” and “socialist,” along with alleged homophobic slurs and expressions of admiration for Hamas military tactics.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Chinese Native Who Can’t Speak English Kills 5 in Virginia Bus Crash

Headline USA Editor
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Chinese Native Who Can’t Speak English Kills 5 in Virginia Bus Crash

(Headline USA) A family of four from Massachusetts who were killed when a bus driven by a Chinese native crashed into multiple vehicles in Virginia were traveling to a wedding with a carload of homemade desserts for the celebration.

The family wedding will go forward Sunday in South Carolina, but it also will be a time to mourn the loss of Dmitri and Ecaterina Doncev and their two children, Emily and Mark, a relative said Saturday.

“A son, a father — the whole family — everyone that has been dear to us,” Carolina Bublik said.

The Doncevs were killed when a motorcoach caused a chain-reaction crash with vehicles that had slowed down for a work zone on Interstate 95 in Stafford County around 2:35 a.m. Friday, authorities said.

The bus struck a Suburban, which then hit an Acura carrying the Doncev family, police said. Priscilla Mafalda, 25, of Worcester, Massachusetts, was in the Chevrolet SUV and also died.

More people were treated for injuries, including one who was in critical condition, though most were discharged, Mary Washington Healthcare said.

The bus driver, Jing S. Dong, 48, a Chinese native who later was granted U.S. citizenship, was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and additional charges were likely, Virginia State Police said. According to the New York Post, Dong can’t speak English.

The prosecutor’s office in Stafford County said Dong was arrested and would be in custody while he is treated for his injuries at a hospital.

Prosecutors said in a statement that Dong’s first court appearance will not be scheduled until he is discharged but a magistrate approved holding him without bond until that time. It also said prosecutors saw enough probable cause to believe Dong was “driving in a criminally negligent manner.”

It was unclear whether Dong has an attorney who could speak on his behalf. The case did not yet appear in the state’s online court records, and a call to the area’s public defender went unanswered at a closed office Saturday.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, a monthslong task separate from the work of state police. NTSB board member Tom Chapman revealed few new details but said the bus was moving at a high rate of speed.

“It seems fairly clear that if there was any braking there wasn’t much, because of the speed and severity of the collision,” Chapman said.

The bus, which was taking people from New York to North Carolina, was operated by E&P Travel Inc., based in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.

Chapman said the driver’s language proficiency would be part of the NTSB investigation. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, citing police, said on social media that Dong, a native of China, does not speak English.

Dmitri Doncev, 45, was a nurse who worked at Holyoke Medical Center. Ecaterina Doncev, 44, was a hairstylist who spent days making desserts for the family wedding, Bublik said.

They emigrated to the U.S. from Moldova in 2008 and settled in Greenfield, Massachusetts, she said.

Dmitri and brother Iuri tried to stay together while traveling in separate vehicles to South Carolina.

“At some point they ended up getting separated,” Bublik said. “Dmitri said, ‘You go ahead. I’ll catch up later.’ It was a big shock when Iuri arrived at the house. Dmitri should have arrived around the same time. When his car did not show up, and he wasn’t picking up the phone — that’s when the family started panicking.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Judge Presiding over 2020 Election Case is Friends w/ Fani Willis

Headline USA Editor
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Judge Presiding over 2020 Election Case is Friends w/ Fani Willis

(Headline USA) The U.S. Department of Justice is asking a judge to recuse herself in a fight over Georgia election records, arguing that she attended an event honoring Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who prosecuted President Donald Trump, raising questions about the judge’s ability to be impartial.

A federal judge in 11th Judicial Circuit received a “private reprimand” after a court investigation found that the judge had sex in the courthouse with a high-ranking uniformed police officer within earshot of staff, attended a partisan event and then initially lied to deny the allegations.

The court’s investigation did not publicly identify the judge or the court location within the 11th Circuit’s jurisdiction, which includes Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The Justice Department is relying on media reports that identify U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross in Atlanta as the judge in question.

A person who answered the phone in Ross’ chambers Friday said the judge was unavailable and referred questions about the allegations to the court’s media office which said, “Judge Ross has no comment right now.” The media office did not immediately respond Saturday to a second email seeking comment about the Justice Department motion seeking Ross’ recusal.

Federal judges are appointed for life but can be subject to disciplinary action, including censure, public or private reprimands and temporary withholding of cases. They can only be removed through impeachment by Congress.

Ross was nominated in January 2014 by then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and she was confirmed by the Senate in November of that year. She had previously served as a state court judge in DeKalb County, which includes a small part of the city of Atlanta, since 2011. Prior to taking the bench, she had worked as a state and federal prosecutor, mostly in Atlanta, for more than a decade.

The election records fight

Ross is overseeing the election records case filed by the Justice Department against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

The Justice Department has sued multiple states seeking statewide voter lists. Raffensperger has said that Georgia law prohibits the release of voters’ confidential personal information unless certain qualifications are met and that the federal government hadn’t met those conditions. He has said that he sent the public part of the voter roll to the Justice Department in December.

Ross has scheduled a hearing in the case for Wednesday, though the Justice Department has asked to delay that hearing because of its request for the judge to recuse herself.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Two Liberal Judges Block Trump Initiatives

Luis Cornelio
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Two Liberal Judges Block Trump Initiatives

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Two liberal federal judges on Friday blocked two recent initiatives carried out by President Donald Trump: the renaming of the Kennedy Center and the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate victims of government weaponization.

First, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper of Washington, D.C., claimed that the Trump administration’s inclusion of the president’s name in the Kennedy Center was unlawful under federal law.

Cooper, appointed to the bench by then-President Barack Obama in 2014, wrote in his order that “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”

The lawsuit was filed on December 22 by Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, who is also an “ex officio member” of the Trump-Kennedy Center’s board.

Cooper also ruled that the Trump-appointed board overstepped its authority when it fired “ex officio trustees” and that the planned closure for renovations was unlawful.

Trump swiftly tore into Cooper in two lengthy and fiery responses to the order, saying that Cooper and the radical left “would rather see” the Trump-Kennedy Center “DIE” than have it transformed.

“There has never been a President of the United States who has been treated so unfairly by the Courts as I but, that’s OK, I will continue to do, what is considered to be, a great job for the wonderful people of our Country,” Trump added.

The ruling came as another federal judge moved against the DOJ’s creation of its $1.776 billion weaponization fund.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia temporarily blocked the fund pending litigation.

The fund was the product of a settlement between Trump and the IRS after the federal agency failed to keep a self-described whistleblower from leaking the president’s confidential tax returns to the legacy media.

Appointed to the bench by then-President Bill Clinton in 1993, Brinkema said the restraining order was intended to “ensure that no funds are irreversibly disbursed” before a preliminary hearing.

The lawsuit against the fund was filed earlier on May 22 by a former federal prosecutor, the City of New Haven, the National Abortion Federation and Common Cause.

A DOJ spokesperson dismissed the order and defended the legality of the fund in remarks to the media.

“The Department remains extremely confident in the legality of the Anti-Weaponization Fund which is supported by ample precedent, including Obama-era settlements,” the DOJ spokesperson told Politico. “We will not allow the policy preferences of judges to interfere with our efforts to provide restitution to victims of lawfare.”

The separate orders come as Democrats and left-wing activists continue filing lawsuits aimed at halting key Trump administration initiatives following their damning defeat in the 2024 presidential election.

Federal Judge Strikes Down New Hampshire ‘Proof of Citizenship’ Law

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Federal Judge Strikes Down New Hampshire ‘Proof of Citizenship’ Law

(Chris Wade, The Center Square) A federal judge has overturned a New Hampshire law that required unregistered voters to provide proof of citizenship to cast ballots in state elections.

The ruling late Thursday by U.S. District Court judge Samantha Elliott sided with the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups who sued to block the law, saying the requirement for new voters to provide a birth certificate or valid U.S. passport to cast a ballot on election day was unconstitutional.

“New Hampshire’s interest in election integrity cannot justify the burden on New Hampshire voters based on the evidence in this case,” Elliot wrote in the 98-page ruling.

Elliot said the state Attorney General’s office, which defended the law during a recent trial, didn’t provide “conclusive proof” that non-citizens were regularly voting in New Hampshire elections. She pointed to testimony during the trial that only one person in 26 years has been charged with voter fraud, while a few people with permanent resident cards were allowed to vote due to confusion by local clerks.

“Such miniscule numbers strongly undercut any legitimate concern about election integrity vis-à-vis noncitizen voting and, consequently, the state’s interest in addressing it,” Elliott wrote.

The decision, which goes into effect immediately, means New Hampshire voters who arrive at the polls in this fall’s midterm elections without a birth certificate or passport will be allowed to use a “legally-binding” affidavit to register to vote and cast a ballot.

“New Hampshire’s elections have always been safe, secure, and accurate – and this law could have unconstitutionally and needlessly prevented thousands of eligible voters from casting a ballot,” Henry Klementowicz, deputy legal director of the ACLU of New Hampshire, said in a statement. “Making it harder to vote is a clear attack on one of our most fundamental of rights, and this law is consigned to the dustbin of history where it belongs.”

The 2024 law, signed by then-Gov. Chris Sununu, requires people who are registering to vote in New Hampshire for the first time on Election Day to provide proof of identification within seven days of casting a ballot.

New Hampshire is one of a handful of states that don’t use provisional ballots, which are required under federal law.

The state received a waiver from the federal requirement in the 1990s in exchange for offering same-day voter registration. Under the previous law, voters can sign an affidavit attesting their identity if they are missing required documents.

Republicans who backed the creation of the new affidavit ballots say the intent is to prevent voter fraud and instill more confidence in the state’s election system.

In 2021, New Hampshire’s Supreme Court struck down a four-year old law requiring voters to show additional proof of identity if they register shortly before an election.

In the ruling, the justices wrote that they agreed with the lower court rulings that the law “imposes unreasonable burdens on the right to vote” and that lawyers for the state failed to demonstrate that the law was related to an “important governmental objective.”

The law required voters to show additional proof of identification if they registered within 30 days of a federal, state or local election.

Democrats passed a law repealing the changes in 2019, when they had control of the Legislature, but Sununu vetoed it.

Almost 25,000 Immigration Arrests Made in Florida

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Almost 25,000 Immigration Arrests Made in Florida

(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) Since Florida launched its immigration enforcement effort, Operation Tidal Wave, in February, nearly 25,000 arrests have been made statewide.

“Florida will continue to use every available resource to identify dangerous individuals, support federal immigration enforcement and keep our citizens safe,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “No state has moved faster or done more to combat illegal immigration than Florida, and we will continue to lead the charge in protecting our communities.”

Operation Tidal Wave was launched as Florida leads the country with the most 287(g) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agreements of any state, The Center Square reported. The program isnamed after a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1996 and authorizes ICE to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform specified immigration functions under its supervision.

The Trump administration expanded the program to include three models: the Jail Enforcement Model (JEM), Task Force Model (TFM) and Warrant Service Officer (WSO) model, The Center Square reported. Florida is the only state to have all of its sheriffs participating in 287(g), with most participating in the TFM and or all three models. Nearly 200 police departments, 12 state agencies and 15 state universities and colleges, as well as county commissioner detention facilities and correctional facilities, are participating in 287(g). No other state has as many agencies participating in 287(g), and primarily in the TFM, as Florida does, according to ICE data.

During the first week of Operation Tidal Wave, Florida law enforcement arrested more than 1,100 criminal illegal foreign nationals, a record for Florida. The only state with more arrests in a single week is in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star is underway. While these arrests are not solely through 287(g) partnerships, Texas law enforcement through OLS have made more than half a million arrests over the last five years, The Center Square reported. OLS is ongoing.

Key 287(g) partnership arrests were made in Florida through three recent multi-agency immigration enforcement operations: Operation Sandhill Sentinel, Operation LOCATE and Operation Criminal Return.

In south Florida, Operation Sandhill Sentinel led to the arrest of 250 illegal foreign nationals, including those with extensive criminal histories ranging from domestic violence to drug offenses, DUI and assault, among other violent crimes. Those arrested also had final orders of removal and repeat immigration violations, ICE found.

The Florida Highway Patrol (FDLE), Broward Sheriff’s Office, ICE, U.S. Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, Florida National Guard and Florida State Guard were involved in the operation.

Another key arrest earlier this month was of a Honduran national and known MS-13 gang member illegally residing in Palm Beach County. A multi-agency operation led to the arrest of Luis Merary Peralta-Sevilla, who illegally entered the country in 2013 in Texas. He was never deported until the second Trump administration, which also designated MS-13 as a foreign terrorist organization. MS-13 members are alsobeing prosecuted nationwide.

In Operation Criminal Return, FDLE and ICE sought to identify criminal foreign nationals who are registered sex offenders and sexual predators. In a 10-day targeted operation they arrested 230 people statewide, including sexual predators and sex offenders, convicted felons, a convicted drug trafficker, and convicted murderers, according to FDLE and ICE.

In Operation LOCATE, the FDLE partnered with Homeland Security in an intelligence-led initiative focused on identifying and locating unaccompanied alien children (UACs).

They located more than 400 UACs statewide and outside of Florida, verifying their safety and living conditions “while uncovering cases involving trafficking concerns, missing children, and other high-risk situations,” the governor’s office said.

UACs are foreign national children under age 18 who arrive in the U.S. without their parents or family members. They are primarily smuggled into the country and once in the U.S., the federal government doesn’t deport them but sends them to live with so-called sponsors. Florida has historically received the most UACs behind Texas and California, The Center Square reported.

As the border crisis worsened under the Biden administration, sponsors in 29 counties in Florida received more than 10,000 UACs, The Center Square reported.

In response to reports of abuse and neglect of UACs in Florida, DeSantis called for a state grand jury to launch an investigation. It found “horrible atrocities inflicted on immigrant children in Florida” including allegations of human trafficking and child abuse. It also found that the federal government lost track of more than 20,000 children in Florida and performed no background checks on the sponsors the UACs were sent to, among other issues, The Center Square reported.

Last year, the Trump administration launched an initiative to conduct welfare checks on UACs after President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said more than 350,000 UACs were unaccounted for.

Manhunt Still Underway for Gunman Who Killed Virginia Sheriff’s Deputy

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Manhunt Still Underway for Gunman Who Killed Virginia Sheriff’s Deputy

(Headline USA) A sheriff’s deputy in Virginia died Friday after a man shot at deputies who were conducting a welfare check, law enforcement officials said.

The suspect has been identified as Michael Timothy Puckett. The U.S. Marshals have offered $10,000 for information leading to his arrest.

The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said the fatal shooting occurred after law enforcement received a request from a family member to do a welfare check.

A man at the home opened fire on deputies who returned fire, the sheriff’s office said. Both deputies were hit by gunfire.

“One deputy sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased. The second deputy was struck in his ballistic vest and is currently receiving medical evaluation and is reported to be in stable condition,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a news release.

A search is underway for the suspect. Law enforcement officials said he should be considered armed and extremely dangerous.

Sheriff Kevin A. Kemp identified the slain officer as Deputy Logan Utt. Utt, a military veteran, joined the department in 2023, the sheriff said.

“Today, Carroll County has lost a hero, and a family has suffered an unimaginable loss. Please keep his wife, children, family, friends, and fellow deputies in your thoughts and prayers,” Kemp said.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Congress Likely to Add Another Republican after La. Redistricting

Headline USA Editor
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Congress Likely to Add Another Republican after La. Redistricting

(Headline USA) Louisiana enacted a new map of congressional districts Friday that is designed to help Republicans pick up a seat while eliminating one of the state’s two majority-black House districts, both of which are represented by Democrats.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed the plan hours after it overwhelmingly passed the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature.

Approval of the new House map came a month after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s current map — with its two majority-black districts — as an illegal racial gerrymander, weakening the landmark 1965 federal Voting Rights Act. That decision intensified a national redistricting battle fueled by President Donald Trump’s efforts to protect Republicans’ slim U.S. House majority in the midterm elections. Louisiana is one of several Southern states now redrawing their maps to help Republicans.

Louisiana Republicans had considered drawing a map giving the party a shot at winning all six of the state’s U.S. House seats. But that would have required adding more registered Democrats to Republican-held districts, potentially backfiring with GOP losses.

The map approved Friday in a 28-10 state Senate vote along party lines reflected Republican arguments that a 5-1 map is safer for the GOP and better protects U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson from facing a difficult reelection. Republicans currently hold four of Louisiana’s six congressional seats.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Jill Biden Reveals How Kamala Cornered Joe Into Endorsing Her

Luis Cornelio
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Jill Biden Reveals How Kamala Cornered Joe Into Endorsing Her

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Jill Biden appeared to put lingering rumors to rest this week by confirming she heavily disliked Kamala Harris, recounting how the twice-failed presidential candidate effectively cornered Joe Biden into endorsing her after he exited the 2024 race. 

The confirmation came in her book, View from the East Wing, set for release on June 2. In it, Jill recounted how Harris’s pressure campaign began when Joe called Harris to inform her of his decision to end his re-election campaign. 

At first, Harris appeared compassionate about Joe’s exit. But, in Jill’s own words, Harris quickly shifted into “her courtroom prosecutor mode” and began demanding an immediate endorsement of her imminent presidential bid. 

“Oh my God, Joe. Are you sure?” Harris asked, according to a preview of the book reported by USA Today on Friday. 

Seemingly unconvinced by Harris’s electability, Joe suggested that they wait until the next day to issue an endorsement. Harris quickly shut down that idea, claiming the delay would create an opportunity for “mischief.” 

“I want it sooner,” Harris demanded, to which Joe replied: “I’ll call you back when I figure this out.” 

Unsatisfied with the pledge, she replied, “Could you do it soon? Say, in twenty minutes.” 

As reported by USA Today, Jill walked out of the room at that point. 

The book appears to corroborate longstanding reporting that Jill strongly disliked Harris, primarily after Harris slammed Joe over his record on race when both were seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2019.

At the time, Harris slammed Joe’s opposition to desegregation busing in the 1970s. 

The memoir has not been warmly received in Democratic circles because it reopens the wounds from Biden’s collapse following his disastrous debate against President Donald Trump and the chaotic weeks that ended his re-election campaign. 

US Adult Cigarette Smoking Rate Hits Another All-Time Low

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US Adult Cigarette Smoking Rate Hits Another All-Time Low

(Headline USA) The cigarette smoking rate among U.S. adults dropped to another all-time low last year, with 1 in 11 adults saying they were current smokers, according to government survey data released this week.

Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer, heart disease and stroke, and it’s long been considered the leading cause of preventable death.

The preliminary findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were based on survey responses from more than 24,200 adults. In the survey, CDC officials defined current cigarette smoking as smoking at least 100 cigarettes in a lifetime and now smoking every day or some days.

In the mid-1960s, 42% of U.S. adults were smokers. The rate has been gradually dropping for decades, due to cigarette taxes, tobacco product price hikes, smoking bans, public education campaigns and changes in the social acceptability of lighting up in public.

In 2024, the percentage of current adult smokers fell below 10% for the first time. Last year, it was 9%, according to the new survey.

The use of electronic cigarettes has been inching up among adults, but has held about steady in 2025, at about 7%.

“The continued decline in smoking is a monumental public health achievement that has saved millions of lives and billions in healthcare costs,” said Yolonda Richardson, president and chief executive of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy and research organization.

Richardson said current smoking-prevention efforts have been set back by cuts President Donald Trump’s administration made that eliminated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health and its “Tips from Former Smokers” advertising campaign.

She cited estimates that the “Tips” campaign alone helped more than 1 million Americans quit smoking and saved over $7.3 billion in healthcare costs.

“This critical work must be restored and sustained to continue reducing smoking-related disease, death and healthcare costs nationwide,” Richardson said.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

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