New York Times Responds After Platner Abuse Accuser Rips Outlet For ‘Twisted’ Story

The New York Times doubled down on its reporting after an ex-girlfriend of Maine Democrat Graham Platner ripped the liberal outlet for watering down its story on her accusations that Platner treated her abusively during their relationship.

Lyndsey Fifield, who dated Platner from 2013 to 2015, said that the Times convinced her to come forward to talk about her experience with Platner, but then, the reporters left out critical details. In a post on X, she said the Times “twisted” the story into a narrative driven by Platner’s Senate campaign.

“It dawned on me that this really was a set up all along. The journalists I trusted who convinced me to share a story I never wanted to tell methodically delayed and twisted this into a gift to the Platner campaign,” she said. “Violating the trust of his victims. Shattering the trust I placed in them with the most vulnerable story of my life.”

In response to Fifield’s post, the Times told The Daily Wire that it stood by its reporting.

“We published accounts provided by several women who were in romantic relationships with Graham Platner,” Times spokeswoman Nicole Taylor said. “Our story accurately presents each of these accounts as told to our reporters and according to our standards. We stand by our reporting of the accounts from Ms. Fifield and the other women, who provided a revealing look at the behavior of a major candidate for the U.S. Senate.”

Fifield, a Virginia conservative, said she told the Times that Platner regularly grabbed her by the shoulders hard enough to leave marks. She recounted an incident in which he allegedly twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom, and held the door shut, telling her to stay there until she was “calm.” Fifield said she eventually fell asleep and left the next morning, according to the Times.

Platner has denied any allegations of physical abuse.

Fifield, who has worked in Republican politics, said that the Times story downplayed the seriousness of her allegations and that stories from multiple other women she was told would be included were not.

“After the story went up I began to ask them … wait, where are the stories from the other women? Where are their accusations of sexual assault? Why am I the focus? Why are there 11 paragraphs dedicated to detailing my work history (more than has been published about Graham’s by far)?” Fifield asked. “Why does it say ‘nobody could corroborate’ when I offered them sources that COULD corroborate?”

She added that she was tricked by assurances from the Times that it would fully tell her story.

“I bucked all advice from my friends (and resisted my conservative bias) and decided to fully trust the Times journalists,” she wrote. “As they left my home they asked that I not talk to any other outlets and I insisted then and repeatedly over the following weeks that I would keep my word and only share this story with them.”

She also said that the Times failed to use numerous screenshots she provided to reporters to verify her account of the relationship.

“Where were the screenshots they’d said they would use? Or the mention that I’d supported local democrats and that most of my family (and husband) are liberal? The editors said it was too much, they explained,” she said. “The Times also failed to include any mention that I DID confide in multiple friends through the years that Graham had been abusive — long before he was running for office. Those friends confirm they told the Times so.”

Platner’s campaign has been plagued by revelations that he sent sexually explicit messages to multiple women while married and maintained an account on Kik, a messaging platform flagged by child-safe advocates for being associated with sexual predators.