WASHINGTON — The high spokesman for Mayor Mamdani raked in additional than $50,000 for political consulting work on Maine Senate Democratic candidate Graham Platner’s marketing campaign proper up till he began at Metropolis Corridor in January.
Press secretary Joe Calvello give up the consulting gig earlier than getting the job with NYC — for which he’s paid a cool $210,000 a yr, in line with the mayor’s workplace.
He’s yet one more Mamdani insider with shut ties to the embattled left-wing oysterman — who was revealed to have been sexting as much as a dozen girls whereas married.
Additionally cross-pollinating between the camps is lefty kingmaker Morris Katz — who confronted backlash for allegedly browbeating the ex-staffer who blew the whistle on Platner and tried to kill the sexting story.
The Calvello gig was wrapped up in a Wyoming-based LLC — which have been used prior to now to obscure shady offers.
Graham for Maine paid an organization registered to Joe Calvello a complete of $50,036.07 for “communications consulting” between Oct. 1, 2025, and Jan. 9, 2026, in line with federal marketing campaign finance filings, with the ultimate $10,000 cost arriving 9 days after the mayor was sworn in.
The mayor’s workplace famous that Calvello’s begin date was Jan. 13, that means he didn’t need to declare a battle of curiosity or receive a waiver to complete his work for Platner — in addition to different Democratic candidates — earlier than becoming a member of the Mamdani administration.
Calvello has shared statements from Platner responding to the Trump administration’s seize of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro as lately as Jan. 3 — and spent the previous yr selling the candidate’s appearances at rallies, city halls and different occasions.
Greater than 6,500 folks turned out for an occasion Platner did with socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in September, and the Senate hopeful returned to his outdated stomping grounds in Washington, DC, to have a tendency bar on the Tune Inn 10 days later — with Calvello by his aspect.
Calvello’s agency, Frequent Pheasant Consulting LLC, was integrated in Cheyenne, Wyo., in Might 2025 and acquired a complete of greater than $68,500 from Democratic campaigns between August of that yr and the next January.
LLCs within the state don’t need to disclose different homeowners or members, making it tough to find out who receives extra cash for political marketing campaign work apart from the registered agent.
As of Might 2, Frequent Pheasant had additionally acquired a discover that it was tax delinquent, in line with Wyoming enterprise information.
Earlier this yr, a Huge Apple watchdog group uncovered a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars} that had flowed from the ex-Mayor Eric Adams marketing campaign to Wyoming-based LLCs and urged town’s Marketing campaign Finance Board to analyze, NBC Information 4 reported, noting it was “extremely suspicious.”
Calvello didn’t reply to a request for remark about Platner’s current sexual messaging scandal.
The Democratic flack had beforehand served as communications director for Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) after his profitable 2022 marketing campaign in opposition to Dr. Mehmet Oz within the Keystone State — and as a strategic adviser to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D).
Over the weekend, a former Platner aide advised The New York Instances that the candidate had exchanged steamy texts with at the very least six girls — and that the Maine Democrat’s spouse had come ahead with the allegations final yr.
The candidate’s former political director Genevieve McDonald — who left the Democrat’s marketing campaign final October — mentioned Platner’s spouse Amy Gertner got here clear about his “sexting” in August 2025, the month earlier than she was placed on the marketing campaign payroll, receiving greater than $28,750 by means of March of this yr.
Platner and Gertner dismissed The Instances and Wall Avenue Journal studies as “gossip,” however they admitted to having sought marriage counseling and defended their union as “very loving and really blissful” — regardless of the setback.
Platner additionally reportedly as of this week nonetheless maintained a profile, “Phustle0331,” on Kik, a chat app for hookups, that displayed a rest room mirror selfie with himself wrapped simply in a towel, The Each day Wire reported.
“Phustle! Have you ever seen Phustle? … We didn’t match up on Kik,” Fetterman mocked Platner utilizing his purported Kik account profile identify on Tuesday when talking with reporters.
“I believe you shouldn’t ship sexually express texts or d—ok pics, or no matter he sends to all these girls on Kik,” Fetterman mentioned, in line with NOTUS.
“That was like lower than a yr in the past. I imply, what’s subsequent?”
The candidate used the same person identify of “P-Hustle” to put up profane feedback on Reddit boards — together with one about how girls anxious about rape ought to “not get so f–ked up they wind up having intercourse with somebody they don’t imply to.”
“Maine, I’m asking you to not choose me for the worst factor I mentioned on the web, on my worst day 14 years in the past, however who I’m right now and the sort of senator I promise to be,” Platner later mentioned in an advert.
He’s presently forward of Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins within the Maine common election’s polls by 7.8 proportion factors, in line with the RealClearPolitics aggregator, although ex-Democratic main opponent and Gov. Janet Mills lately reminded voters she stays on the June 9 state poll.
Requested in regards to the probability that Mills, who suspended her marketing campaign, triumphs over Platner as a result of poll remaining the identical, one Democratic operative advised The Publish, “I simply don’t assume it’s going to occur — grassroots would flip out. It’s Platner or bust at this level.”
