The Daily Brief — July 7, 2026
Platner campaign unravels, Blanche nomination, January 6 pipe bomb suspect
These are today’s top stories, delivered straight to your inbox. Catch up here on all the news.
Platner Pressure
Maine’s Democratic nominee for US Senate, Graham Platner, is facing calls to leave the race after a former girlfriend accused him of raping her in 2021.
Jenny Racicot, who dated Platner on and off for about two years, told Politico that he entered her home uninvited while intoxicated and forced her to have sex after she told him to stop. She said that afterward she told him the encounter hadn’t been consensual and cut off contact with him.
Politico reported that it reviewed emails between Racicot and her therapist about the alleged assault, along with 2023 Facebook messages in which she warned an acquaintance not to get involved with Platner. Politico also spoke with a man Racicot began dating afterward who said she’d described the incident to him at the time. Racicot told the acquaintance that Platner
“doesn’t listen to you when drunk.”
Platner denied the allegation yesterday, calling it “troubling, serious, and false.”
More than half of the Democrats in the Senate called on Platner to drop out. Maine’s Democratic Party leadership also urged him to leave the race. State law allows replacement if Platner withdraws by July 13. Democrats will then have until July 27 to choose a new candidate to run against Republican incumbent Susan Collins.
Platner said he is taking time to “reflect on the best path forward” for his campaign.
Ex-DOJ Officials Say Blanche Shouldn’t Be AG
More than 1,200 former Justice Department employees have asked the Senate to reject Todd Blanche’s nomination to be attorney general, saying he has “demonized” the department’s career workforce. Blanche has served as acting attorney general since April, when Trump fired Pam Bondi and elevated him from deputy attorney general.
In a letter sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the former employees — who served under both Democratic and Republican administrations — wrote that Blanche has fired or overseen the firing of hundreds of career employees without notice and for “improper, unlawful reasons,” such as working on cases the president disliked or being relatives of his foes.
They also said Blanche targeted employees for declining to pursue the Trump administration’s “vindictive” prosecutions or “refusing to lie in court.” The letter says roughly 16,000 of the department’s 100,000 employees have left “under Blanche’s leadership,” including 25% of the DOJ’s attorneys.
It also argues Blanche has shown “fealty to the president” rather than the Constitution.
Turkey Could Buy F-35 Fighter Jets Again
President Donald Trump said that the US will lift sanctions on Turkey and consider allowing it to purchase F-35 fighter jets. Turkey was removed from the F-35 program in 2019 after it bought a Russian S-400 air-defense system over US objections.
US law says sanctions can be imposed on any country that buys military weapons from Russia, Iran, or North Korea. Turkish President Erdoğan, who has warm relations with Trump, had long wanted to remove the ban on his country buying fighter jets. Trump, who said he is attending the NATO summit only because of Erdoğan, said, “We don’t want to sanction friends.”
Speaking alongside Erdoğan at the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump said an F-35 sale is “certainly something we’d consider.” He has praised Turkey’s help during the recent US–Israeli conflict with Iran, drawing a contrast with NATO allies he felt did less.
DC Pipe Bomb Suspect
A federal judge ruled yesterday that President Trump’s mass pardons for January 6 rioters don’t cover a Virginia man charged with planting pipe bombs outside the Republican and Democratic national headquarters the night before the 2021 Capitol attack. Capitol Police found and disarmed the devices before they exploded.
Trump’s January 6 pardons, issued on his first day back in office last year, covered more than 1,500 people charged or convicted in the Capitol attack.
Brian Cole Jr., 30, was arrested at his Virginia home last December, nearly five years after he allegedly planted the bombs. Cole was initially charged with using an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction.
Prosecutors later added terrorism and weapons-of-mass-destruction charges. He has pleaded not guilty and faces up to life in prison if convicted.
His attorneys argued the case should be dismissed because his actions were linked to the events of January 6. US District Judge Amir Ali rejected that, noting the pardons applied only to people convicted of January 6–related offenses and that Cole hadn’t even been charged when Trump issued them.
Planned Parenthood Funding
Planned Parenthood and two smaller regional health providers have resumed billing Medicaid for non-abortion services after a one-year funding ban expired on July 4.
Federal law has long barred Medicaid from paying for most abortions directly. The ban that just expired went further: it cut off Medicaid reimbursement entirely — including for non-abortion care — to any provider that both performed abortions and received more than $800,000 in Medicaid funds in 2023. The ban, part of President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill signed last year, was capped at one year under Senate rules, and Congress didn’t renew it before its summer recess.
Planned Parenthood says the cutoff forced nearly 30 of its roughly 600 health centers to close over the past year and contributed to sharp declines in services like birth control, breast cancer screenings, and STI testing. Some clinics and programs are not expected to reopen because staff have already been laid off.
Where’s Mitch McConnell?
Three weeks after Sen. Mitch McConnell was hospitalized, his staff will not say whether the 84-year-old Republican will return to the Senate before his final term ends in January.
McConnell was admitted to a Washington, DC, hospital on June 14. Several news outlets said emergency responders were called to McConnell’s home and reported performing CPR on an “unconscious individual” who was in cardiac arrest.
But there’s still been no official update on his condition, and his staff have said only that he “continues to improve” and remains engaged with his team. He is not seeking reelection.
McConnell has had several health setbacks in recent years, including falls, freezing while speaking, a concussion, and a hospitalization earlier this year for flu-like symptoms.
McConnell, Another one who has repeatedly voted against paid medical and sick leave legislation, getting paid while we don’t even know if he’s conscious or not. Hypocrites!
Thanks for these updates.