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Graham Platner meets with Senate Democrats amid texting scandal - The Boston Globe.WASHINGTON -- Graham Platner, the likely Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine who is facing new scrutiny of his past behavior, came to Washington on Tuesday and drew a nervous and somewhat standoffish reception from the Senate Democrats he hoped to join.Platner, an oyster farmer who is running against Sen.Susan Collins, a five-term Republican, invited the entire Senate Democratic caucus for an afternoon meeting, but only about half a dozen senators were seen entering the building for the meeting.Earlier, Platner had a 30-minute one-on-one session with Sen.Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, according to two people briefed on the meeting.Schumer had endorsed Platner’s primary opponent before she suspended her campaign a month ago.Speaking to reporters at the Capitol, Schumer dodged repeated questions about Platner after reports last weekend that the candidate had sent sexual messages to women outside his marriage.The revelations stoked worries among some Democrats that Platner, who has already survived several controversies, has more political baggage that has yet to emerge.“I met with Graham Platner today,” Schumer said.“We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.” As reporters pressed Schumer about his confidence in Platner, he repeated three more times that Democrats would defeat Collins -- and noted once that he had endorsed Platner -- before ending his news media availability.Schumer’s clipped responses to questions about Platner were echoed by the few Senate Democrats who crossed Constitution Avenue from their offices to meet with Platner at the headquarters of the Senate Democratic campaign arm.The 90-minute session, which came after an invitation from Platner’s aides, was planned before last weekend’s reports about his texts to women.Asked if Platner had answered questions about his past, Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, the chair of the campaign arm, replied, “Yes, he did.It was a good meeting.” Others who met with Platner, including Sens.Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Tina Smith of Minnesota and Peter Welch of Vermont, said even less or did not respond to questions.Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., did not engage with questions about Platner’s past conduct but criticized Republican attacks against him.“Why are they spending so much money trying to defeat this guy?” Sanders said on his way into the meeting.“The answer is that he’s going to stand up to the oligarchs.Thank you very much.” Platner himself entered and exited the Senate Democratic campaign headquarters without saying a word.The informal meeting was a cordial gathering in which Platner’s explanations of his behavior largely tracked with his public accounting, according to two people briefed on the conversations.Also on Tuesday, Platner pulled out of a planned event Wednesday with VoteVets, a Democratic organization that backs veterans running for office, according to two people familiar with the plans.VoteVets endorsed Platner last month, three weeks after Gov.Janet Mills, his leading primary opponent, suspended her campaign.Ben Chin, Platner’s campaign manager, said the candidate had left Washington to return to Maine because his wife’s family was growing uneasy about a growing media presence outside their home and family restaurant.Platner has been the presumptive Democratic nominee since late April, when Mills, the choice of Schumer and the Democratic establishment, stepped away from the race, citing a lack of financial resources.It was an extraordinary sign of the progressive momentum behind Platner, 41, a political neophyte who has drawn big crowds in Maine.The race is widely seen as a must-win for Democrats in their uphill push to retake the Senate.But some Democrats, publicly and privately, have continued to harbor reservations about Platner’s candidacy.Last year, he faced controversies over a chest tattoo he had that resembled a Nazi symbol (he later had it covered up) and over old Reddit posts that were dismissive of sexual assault survivors or inflammatory in other ways.Mills, in comments published Monday, reminded Maine voters that she was still on the ballot in the state’s primary next week.“People have the impression that I ‘withdrew’ or ‘dropped out,’” she said in an interview published in The Portland Press Herald.“I simply suspended active campaigning.I am still on the ballot.” Platner’s meeting with Senate Democrats drew a crowd of dozens of journalists and onlookers, which included a number of Republican protesters chanting about Platner’s texting.The invitation for the meeting from Platner’s aides called the session an “informal member-only meet-and-greet.” It continued with a request for senators to send a donation to Platner’s campaign before Maine’s primary next Tuesday.Most Senate Democrats declined the invitation.One of them, Sen.John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, nodded to reports that Platner appeared to have had an account with the username Phustle0331 on Kik, a messaging app known for anonymous communication.“I didn’t match up from kik,” Fetterman quipped in a text message.“What’s up, P-Hustle!?” This article originally appeared in The New York Times.