Graham Platner, a Democratic contender for the Senate, has fervently criticized what he terms the ‘Epstein class.’ However, it has come to light that he has received substantial donations from a foundation linked to an associate of Jeffrey Epstein. This revelation poses a challenge to Platner as he campaigns in the primary election against Maine’s current governor, Janet Mills, aiming for a political showdown with the incumbent Republican senator, Susan Collins, this November.

Platner has been vocal in his criticism of Collins, particularly for her decision not to vote in favor of releasing the Epstein files. He has accused her of shielding ‘pedophiles and abusers’ and has even gone so far as to question whose interests she is truly serving. However, the irony of his own financial connections to Epstein’s network is now casting a shadow over his campaign.

Despite these controversies, Platner’s background as a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars paints a picture of resilience. After returning to Maine in 2018, he embarked on a new chapter by taking over an oyster farm initiated by a friend. This endeavor speaks to his commitment to community and local business. Yet, as his political aspirations grow, Platner must now navigate the complexities of his own associations and the scrutiny they bring.

And he’s accused her of ‘protecting pedophiles and abusers,’ while questioning ‘whose bidding is she doing?’

Now, Platner’s own ties to Epstein’s larger empire are coming back to bite him.

Platner, a veteran of both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, moved back to Maine in 2018 to work on an oyster farm started by one of his friends and eventually took over the business.

Per an article from the Maine Small Business Development Centers, Platner received a $20,000 grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation in 2021 to fund the oyster farm’s growth.

The foundation, based in Athens, Greece, was established after the death of Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos I in 1996, and currently lists his son, Spyros Niarchos, as a board member.

Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at a town hall in Ogunquit, Maine, on October 22, 2025

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, speaks to the media at the US Capitol on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Washington

Stavros Niarchos I and his son Spyros go for a walk in the street of Saint Tropez in an undated photograph

Spyros Niarchos (L) with Isabella Bopromeomoro in a 2002 photograph

Spyros Niarchos has been described by Greek newspaper Documento as a member of the ‘inner circle of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.’

He appeared in several of the files relating to Epstein that have been released by the Department of Justice in recent months.

The appearance of an individual’s name in the files is not necessarily evidence of wrongdoing.

In a January 2018 conversation between Epstein and a redacted person, Epstein asks the other person ‘Is there a new boy?,’ to which the other person responds ‘Yes, there is an older man, you will be proud of me.’ 

Epstein asks who the older man is, and the other person reveals that the older man is Spyros Niarchos, then tells Epstein not to tell anyone.

In subsequent emails in the same thread, Epstein calls Spyros Niarchos ‘very interesting’ and says they ‘shared a mutual friend in the 80s,’ who was a ‘beautiful Venezuelan girl.’

In April 2018, Epstein emailed a redacted person, saying ‘I need a girls with great task to help decorators. Help dinners, and flowers design etc the island. HELP,’ to which the redacted person replied, ‘What nationality and age do you want? I am in saint moritz with Spyros now!’ Epstein replied, ‘up to 30yrs.’

Other members of the Niarchos family are also named in the files, including Stavros Niarchos III, the shipping mogul’s grandson, who co-hosted a 2013 Halloween party Epstein was invited to attend. 

Stavros Niarchos and Dasha Zhukova in Greece in July of 2024

Paris Hilton and Stavros Niarchos in an undated photograph

Video shows an inebriated Platner, stripped down to his underwear, celebrating his brother’s wedding by singing and dancing to Miley Cyrus ‘Wrecking Ball’ On the left side of his chest, is a ‘Totenkopf’ tattoo, a symbol of the SS during Nazi Germany  

Graham Platner, a democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, points to a cover-up tattoo that had previously been an image recognized as a Nazi symbol, during an interview on Wednesday

A close-up of Platner’s tattoo cover up, showing a canine in what appears to be a Celtic symbol

Stavros Niarchos III has dated Paris Hilton in the past, and is now married to Dasha Zhukova, ex-wife of former Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to both the Platner campaign and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation for comment.

The Democratic Senate hopeful has also come under fire for his Nazi tattoo after it was revealed he had an SS skull and bones inked on his chest while serving in the Marines.

Last year, he was plunged into scandal when a video showed him drunk and shirtless, sporting a ‘Totenkopf’ on the left side of his chest, a symbol of the Nazi’s paramilitary wing. 

Platner released a statement last fall sharing that he had covered the tattoo, adding that he wasn’t aware it was an SS symbol when he drunkenly visited a tattoo parlor with his Marine Corps. buddies in Split, Croatia, in 2007.

‘I absolutely would not have gone through life having this on my chest if I knew that – and to insinuate that I did is disgusting. I already had the tattoo covered with a new design,’ the Democratic candidate said.

In a video posted on X, Platner showed off the new tattoo.

‘It’s a Celtic knot with some imagery around dogs, because my wife Amy and I, love dogs,’ he said.

In a video posted on X, Platner showed off the new tattoo. ‘It’s a Celtic knot with some imagery around dogs, because my wife Amy (pictured) and I, love dogs,’ he said

He went on to claim that the stories about his Nazi tattoo represent an establishment plot to torpedo his candidacy. 

‘[My donors] know that this is all nonsense. It is no surprise that these stories dropped within days of DC’s chosen candidate getting into this race,’ Platner told local station WGME in an interview.

Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer favors Maine Governor Janet Mills to take on the Republican Collins, but had avoided a public endorsement until Tuesday after the Nazi tattoo story broke.

Schumer declared Mills ‘the best candidate to retire Susan Collins.’ 

Platner has also come under fire over his Reddit history, in which he asked why ‘black people don’t tip’ and suggested that women who get raped in the Army should be careful about how much they have to drink.

Bernie Sanders has endorsed Platner to ‘fight oligarchy’ 

Platner, 41, is a veteran of both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars — it was during one of those tours that he picked up the regrettable Nazi tattoo when they came into port in Croatia

‘I made that comment in 2013. I had just come out of the infantry, which was, at the time, all male. I rarely interacted professionally with women in the service,’ he told WGME last year.

Prior to the tattoo scandal, Platner was being touted as the Democratic blue-collar answer to MAGA.

Overflow crowds were packing his town halls — 500 in Ellsworth, 200 in Caribou — and a viral social media presence turned him into a national progressive folk hero.

Platner has stormed rural corners of the state long written off by Democrats, railing against ‘oligarchy’ and corporate greed while urging empathy for working-class voters.