IT’S POLITICAL: Graham Platner, the oyster fisherman running as the Democratic nominee for senator from Maine, is under pressure to back out of the race following a woman’s accusation that he raped her. Platner denied the accusation but said he must “reflect” on his path forward.

  Until this accusation, Platner had a shot at winning.

  New York Democratic senators Chick Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand said in a joint statement that Platner should quit the race.

  Jenny Racicot, 41, first told Politico that Platner had sexually assaulted her in 2021 then spoke further with CNN’s Jake Tapper, saying Platner had drunkenly assaulted her in her home so violently that a sewing cabinet was knocked over and a needle stuck in her leg.

  “This is something that I tried for many years to forget,” Racicot said.

  It’s not the first time Platner has been accused of improper conduct with women. 

  The situation mirrors what happened when President Joe Biden pulled out of the 2024 race for president and Vice President Kamala Harris succeeded him as candidate without any selection process. Platner must drop out by July 13 for his name to be replaced on the ballot. At this late date, if Platner exits, do the Democrats appoint a candidate to try to unseat Republican Susan Collins or have a quick nomination contest.?

FREE SPEECH:  David Streever of Rochester, NY sued the federal government yesterday because agents had tracked him down after he wrote an email of protest to Todd Lyons, then the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, following the two fatal ICE shootings in Minneapolis.

  Streever called Lyons a “monstrous human being” and “America’s Reinhard Heydrich,” comparing him to the head of the Nazi secret police. 

  DHS agents came to Streever’s front door then tracked him to a hotel room in New York where he was staying with his 7-year-old daughter after returning from a trip to Finland. In repeated phone messages the agents tried to have him sign a warning notice saying his email could have been a crime.

  Streever’s lawsuit says DHS violated his right to free speech. JT Morris, deputy director of litigation at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which is representing Streever, said, “When federal agents come to your door and ask you to stop engaging in political speech”  it  “is an act of intimidation that the Constitution doesn’t tolerate.”

 THE WAR ROOM: Iran appears to have attacked a tanker off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz early today. Without taking credit, Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker had ignored warnings against passing through the strait. 

ON THE PITCH: The American soccer team avoided international opprobrium  by losing last night to Belgium, 4-1 and being eliminated form the World Cup.

  US striker Folarin Balogun had been allowed to play following a red card ejection from the last game and a one-game sit-down that was reversed after an appeal by President Donald Trump. The Belgians were indignant but got their revenge by winning.

  Belgium scored first and the US was on its heels for most of the game. The Belgians even scored their fourth goal in stoppage time.

  All three host nations, the US Mexico, and Canada, are now out of the competition.

INFINITE SCROLL: 

— Donald Trump was on his social media at 1 this morning expounding on the greatness of the US military and lobbying for $350 billion in defense spending along with his vote-restriction bill. He wrote, “The SAVE AMERICA ACT, which everyone is asking for, paired with the full funding of our Great Department of War, can be passed very quickly, ensuring that the United States of America stays FREE for Generations to come.”

THE OBIT PAGE: George Johnson, who was raised in a sharecropper’s cabin and went on to found Johnson Products, haircare for black people, that became the first Black-owned business listed on the New York Stock exchange, has died at age  99.

  Johnson’s products included Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen, making him one of the richest Black Americans.

  Difficulty obtaining as little as a $250 business loan early on inspired Johnson to found Independence Bank of Chicago one of the first, and largest, Black-owned banks.

THE SPIN RACK: Former Republican Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnel of Kentucky has been in the hospital for three weeks with no explanation from his staff. They say the 84-year-old “continues to improve.” — A group of Democratic politicians is organizing to wage war on what they call “the annoyance economy,” endless robocalls, wait times on the phone “due to an unusually high volume of calls,”  spam texts, hidden fees, and difficulty unsubscribing from services. — Some California beach cities are cracking down on beachgoers who set up elaborate day camps with huge tents, shelters, and even sofas.

BELOW THE FOLD: Actress … if you call her or it that … Tilly Norwood, a creation of artificial intelligence,  will star in her first movie, a comedy drama called “Misaligned.”

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