electoralism

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/63495

PITTSBURGH, PA. - Yesterday, Payday Report learned that Congresswoman Summer Lee barred Moraff from her 2022 congressional campaign after receiving at least three complaints of sexual misconduct against Moraff.

Now, Moraff, who recruited Graham Platner to run for Senate in Maine, is at the center of a massive controversy after he admitted that he spent only a few days vetting Platner, who just withdrew from the Senate race after he was accused ofremoved.

Given the fact that both Congresswoman Lee and Justice Democrats stop working with Moraff following these accusations, questions have been raised about why so many on the left trusted him to give a thorough vetting and assessment of Platner.

“Birds of a feather flock together and Moraff and Platner were predators,” said one woman, who says she was sexually harassed while working to elect Congresswoman Lee.

The Toys “R’ Us Heir Who Broke the Costa Political Machine in Pittsburgh

Graham Platner’s guru and top strategist, Daniel Moraff, was the grandson of Seymour Ginsburg, the founder of Toys “R” Us and its first president. As the head of Toys “R” Us, Ginsburg was innovative, shaking up the toy market across the United States and helping make it one of the largest big-box toy stores of the 1990s.

His grandson, Daniel Moraff, likewise was an innovative force who shook up Pittsburgh politics. Moraff played a bold leadership role in beating the old Democratic machine in Western PA, electing a string of socialist magistrates and local elected officials.

In 2017, Moraff led efforts to recruit Summer Lee, then a local community organizer, to run for the State House from Pittsburgh’s Mon Valley. He then played an essential role in leading her campaign to defeat Paul Costa, a 20-year incumbent from a historic Democratic machine, whose family held four major elected offices, in a little less than one year.

However, by the end of 2022, Moraff was barred from participating in Lee’s historic run for Congress, in which she overcame $5 million in AIPAC spending to become the first Black woman elected to Congress from Western PA.

Payday Report has learned that Moraff was barred from Lee’s campaign following at least three complaints of sexual misconduct leveled against him, leading Lee to ban Moraff not just from his previous leadership positions in her campaign, but from even attending campaign events for Lee.

In the winter of 2022, consultants working for the group Justice Democrats, which was founded by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and was assisting Lee, told activists, staff, and volunteers to stop communicating with Moraff, despite his repeated attempts to contact them to influence Lee’s campaign.

Given that both Lee and Justice Democrats were refusing to work with Moraff after multiple sexual misconduct claims against him, questions are raised about what people in the movement should have done to address these

Platner Revived Moraff’s Career after Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Sanders with Platner May in Orono, Maine. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Following Lee’s dismissal, Moraff struggled to find work as a political consultant. He instead focused his efforts on attending Yale Law School.

In 2024, Moraff and his partner Leanne Fan traveled out to Nebraska to recruit Kellogg strike leader Dan Osborn to run for Senate as an independent. Riding the popular support he received as a strike leader, Osborne exceeded expectations in his race against two-term Republican Senator Deb Fischer, losing to her by a mere 6%.

Moraff, with his career revived, sought to build on his brand as a consultant by recruiting other unusual politicians who could appeal to white working class voters.

In the summer of 2025, Moraff was sent a video of Platner advocating against an industrial salmon fishing farm, where Platner lived in Frenchman Bay, Maine, a wealthy seaside community outside of Bar Harbor.

A marine combat veteran from an elite wealthy Maine family, Platner served four tours in combat overseas. After returning from combat, he attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., while working as a bartender at one of Capitol Hill’s most infamous dive bars, the Tune Inn.

Drop Site News founder Ryan Grim, who has drawn criticism for trying to debunk well-documentedremoved claims against Platner, admitted to first meeting Platner when Platner was a bartender at the Tune Inn.

On a "Breaking Points broadcast with his co-host Krystal Ball, Grim blushed about how Platner had been his bartender for many years at the Tune Inn.

"You would be maybe the second bartender serving in Congress, but you would be the first one that I knew when he was a bartender," said Grim as Platner smiled and laughed. "You worked Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights at - I was often there every Sunday night.

"I was basically there every Sunday and some Friday and Saturdays," Grim told his millions of viewers as Platner broke up a big smile.

In July of 2025, Moraff and his partner, Leanne Fan, traveled to meet with Platner and recruit him to run for the US Senate against Susan Collins. After a week of conversations, Moraff persuaded Platner that he could receive the backing of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and raise the millions needed to win the Senate seat.

A month later, on August 19, 2025, Platner launched his campaign for Senate.

“Everywhere I’ve gone it seems like the fabric of what holds us together is being ripped apart by billionaires and corrupt politicians profiting off destroying our environment, driving our families into poverty, and crushing the middle class,” Platner said in his announcement video.

Less than two weeks later, Senator Bernie Sanders endorsed Platner at a Labor Day rally in Portland on September 1, 2025, emailing millions of followers across the country, encouraging them to give to Platner

“We need senators in Washington who are prepared to take on the billionaire class and fight for working people,” said Sanders at Portland’s last Labor Day rally. “That is why I am proud to endorse Graham Platner for U.S. Senate."

Within a month, Platner had raised $3.2 million with Sanders’s backing. While other left candidates were considering running for Senate, Sanders’s political and financial backing of Platner dissuaded serious challengers, guaranteeing Platner the left lane of the Democratic primary against Maine Governor Janet Mills, who had angered many labor unions and progressives in the state.

Many on the left began to scratch their heads about why Sanders would endorse Platner so quickly given the combat veteran’s thin public record. However, Moraff assured Sanders that he had vetted Platner and thought he was solid. Given Moraff’s prior relationships with Summer Lee and Dan Osborne, operatives in Sanders’s political network decided to back Platner.

“Without Moraff’s assurance, there is no way Bernie backs Platner,” said one longtime political operative, who worked with Bernie, and refused to be named publicly for fear of retaliation.

Platner’s Persona Unravels Under Media Scrutiny

Platner fishing in the Bar Harbor community of Sullivan, where he lives in Maine

Quickly, though, questions began to emerge about how much work Sanders and Moraff had done in vetting Platner.

While campaign videos distributed by the Sanders campaign described Platner as a working-class oyster farmer, this was far from the truth. Platner’s grandfather, Warren Platner, was a wealthy interior designer and architect who designed the iconic restaurant Windows of the World on top of the World Trade Center and the headquarters of the Ford Foundation.

His father was a wealthy attorney and his mother owned a high-end restaurant outside of Bar Harbor, Maine. His father gave him the money to buy a house and his mother bought his oysters for her high-end restaurant outside of the tourist haven of Arcadia National Park. Platner lived on a $60,000-a-year military pension and by all accounts did not struggle to pay bills.

Then, in October, photos of Platner drunk, stripped down to his underwear, and dancing at a family member’s wedding went public. The photos revealed that Platner had a tattoo on his chest that resembled the Totenkopf, the symbol of the SS.

Platner claimed that he got the tattoo in Croatia in 2007 while drunk with other members of his Marine unit.

Many Zionists used photos of him drunkenly exposing his tattoo to claim that he was a Nazi. However, many anti-Zionist Jews, including myself, pointed out that the skull and crossbones symbol resembled many such symbols regularly used in the punk rock world.

Deleted Reddit posts began to emerge with Platner making various racist and misogynistic statements. In one post, Platner even mocked a video of an Army soldier, Teddy Daniels, who was wounded and crying for help in Afghanistan in 2012.

The video of Daniels pleading for his life was widely mocked and had over 23 million views on YouTube. Many soldiers, especially Marines, including Platner, mocked Daniels, a recent recruit, for failing to follow proper procedures.

​"This video never gets old," joked Platner in a 2019 Reddit post. "Dumb motherfucker didn't deserve to live. At least his stupidity and fat ass wheezing are available for all future infantrymen to witness and hold in contempt. Poor marksmanship on the Taliban's part is the only reason this mouthbreather made it home, he managed to make every possible shit decision possible when it comes to small unit combat."

Platner apologized, telling people that his disturbing posts years earlier were the result of PTSD and heavy drinking.

“I got out of the Army in 2012. I had PTSD, I had depression. I had all of the things that come with serving in a war, in two wars that I eventually began to not believe in at all. It left me feeling very unmoored,” said Platner. “And I think, like a lot of people, I went on the internet to post stupid things and get in fights and find some form of community in some way. Some outlet for my feelings, for my rage, for my isolation. It wasn’t until I found the actual community that all went away.”

Still, polls showed Platner soaring to a landslide Democratic primary victory. His opponent, Maine Governor Janet Mills, even suspended campaigning as she struggled to gain support.

However, eleven days before the primary election, news reports began to emerge that Platner, just a few months after his marriage, had sexted with multiple women in 2023. Platner’s wife Amy Gertner quickly posted a video on social media, saying that she and Graham had worked through their issues.

Many were upset at the time about how the leaks were unfair since Platner’s wife Amy Gerter had told a former campaign staffer about their infidelity issues in confidence.

Then, on June 4th, The New York Times came forward with the story that he was previously abusive to an ex-girlfriend, Lyndsey Fifield. However, The New York Times admitted that they could not corroborate the story. Many dismissed it quickly since Lyndsey Fifield had a history of lying about Palestinian activists. She had also led a group that was accused of lying about the sexual assault accusers of Brett Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation hearings.

Five days later, Platner soared to a 72% victory in the Maine Democratic primary for Senate.

Many took his victory as a sign that Mainers were willing to look past Platner’s faults and focus on his politics.

removed Accusations Emerge Against Platner*

Jenny Racicot accused Platner ofremoved her on CNN.

Then, on July 6th, Politico publishedremoved accusations against Platner leveled by an ex-girfrlend, Jenny Racicot .

“I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” she said. “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.’”“One of the reasons I didn’t come forward sooner was, the huge moral conflict that I had between supporting his politics, but not supporting him as a person,” Raciot told POLITICO. “I just want the truth out there. I just want people to have a whole scope of who he is as a person.”

Quickly, many urged Platner to drop out of the race. Senator Bernie Sanders, his chief sponsor, called on him to drop out.

Quickly, many began to wonder why Bernie had cleared the left lane for Platner so quickly. Activists pointed the finger at Moraff for doing an expedited vetting of Platner. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Moraff admitted that he spent only a few days researching Platner before approving him.

The interview with Moraff sitting next to his partner Leanne Fan, laughing as they described how they saved thousands of dollars by doing a quick vet, was quickly mocked online.

“We're going to be led off a cliff by people doing ‘’what if JD Vance was in a Portlandia’ skit’ fuckass cosplay,” wrote the host of Executive Dysfunction podcast Amanda Nelson to her 350,000 followers on Threads.

In Pittsburgh, some activists began contacting Payday saying that it was no coincidence that Moraff would so quickly approve Platner without doing the type of deep background research needed for a candidate for that office.

Worse, many speculated that Moraff may have overlooked Platner’s record while vetting him given Moraff’s own record of sexual misconduct, which ultimately led Congresswoman Summer Lee to ban Moraff from participating in her campaign or attending her events in her first run for Congress in 2022.

Payday Report has learned that during Summer Lee’s 2022 campaign for Congress Lee received at least three sexual harassment complaints against Moraff. At the time, Moraff was attending Yale Law School, and the heir to the Toys “R” Us fortune was working on a pro bono basis on Lee’s campaign.

Due to his family wealth, Moraff did not need a job like most Pittsburgh activists, and arrived in the city in 2017 after working on several controversial campaigns in New York City. In 2016, Moraff managed the losing campaign of left-wing organizer Debbie Medina, who admitted on record to beating her son. She lost terribly.

Then, he moved out to Pittsburgh and managed the successful campaign of socialist Mik Pappas to be elected as magistrate in Pittsburgh’s East End. Following that success, he steered the election efforts of now-Congresswoman Summer Lee in her first election for State Representative, successfully defeating 20-year incumbent Paul Costa in Pittsburgh’s Mon Valley. He also helped to defeat Paul’s cousin Dom in a state representative election in the hipster neighborhoods of Pittsburgh’s East End.

As a workaholic and unconventional organizer, who had defeated one of Pittsburgh’s oldest family political machines to elect socialists, Moraff quickly became a rockstar.

“I had spent about a decade organizing in Pittsburgh before he came to town, and I never saw so much true movement of power in such a short time. Not even close,” said one female organizer, who said she later experienced Moraff yelling regularly at her and others for not living up to his expectations when working on Congresswoman Summer Lee’s first campaign for Congress in 2022.

Full disclosure, Summer Lee and I attended Woodland Hills High School together. She was a year younger than me, and we were mere acquaintances. I reached out to Congresswoman Lee for comment late in the day on Tuesday, but have not heard back from her yet.

However, the story is confirmed by seven well-respected activists who worked to elect Lee to Congress and supported Lee’s decision to ban Moraff from her campaign events back in 2022.

Congresswoman Summer Lee launches her campaign in October of 2021

During Lee’s first run for Congress in 2022, Moraff was attending Yale Law School and not formally employed on the campaign. However, he was calling in regularly, phone calls where Moraff would regularly yell at activists and staffers who had less experience working with Lee.

At one point on a conference call in the winter of 2022, when Moraff began berating a key staffer, Lee interrupted Moraff, telling him that if he continued to treat her staff in that manner, he would no longer be welcome to be involved in her campaign.

Around the same time, Lee’s campaign manager Annie Weinberg and consultants from Justice Democrats began weighing what to do about the multiple sexual harassment complaints that they had received against Moraff over the years. They began receiving multiple complaints that Moraff was sexually aggressive with volunteers and activists on the campaign.

Summer Lee’s campaign received complaints from at least three women, and he was dismissed. One woman, who complained about his sexual misconduct while organizing in Pittsburgh, said she wasn’t surprised that Moraff would have championed someone like Platner.

“None of his current embroilment really surprises me because he doesn’t have boundaries with women, nor much of an ethical code,” said one woman.

Still, despite many of these Pittsburgh activists complaining about Moraff’s conduct, they also expressed respect and a desire that he fix his ways, as one woman, who found him abusive, asked that I put in this story.

“[Moraff] as a person didn't make a good impression,’ said one activist, who worked for Lee.  “But the work and movement he ignited was incredibly valuable and he was instrumental in that. Honestly I still think he transformed Pittsburgh politics in a way that was sorely needed and wasn't happening otherwise,” she wrote in a message. “It ignited something that was needed. An important igniter, not the person (that) needed (to) continue the work imho.”

Mike Elk is an Emmy-nominated labor reporter, who founded Payday Report with an NLRB settlement from being illegally fired for union organizing at POLITICO. The New York Times once described him as an "abrasive gadfly” for taking on sexual assault in the labor movement.

If you have information about sexual misconduct in Pittsburgh or the movement, you can contact us anonymously on Signal at 412 613 8423 or email melk@paydayreport.com.

For sexual assault survivors looking for assistance, the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800- 656-4673 is run by theremoved*, Abuse, Incest National Network, and* they offer a list of resources online. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania offers guidance and resources for those in an unsafe and inequitable workplace and who wish to file a complaint with the PHRC or U.S. EEOC.

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