Collins rips report on pay-for-play allegations: ‘Partisan hit job’
ProPublica says FBI investigators had enough evidence for a sweeping bribery probe before personnel changes under President Donald Trump stalled it, according to the report.
- On Tuesday, ProPublica published a report alleging Republican Senator Susan Collins engaged in a "pay-to-play" scheme with defense contractor Martin Kao, who allegedly funneled campaign contributions in exchange for federal contracts.
- Kao alleged he sent $150,000 to a Collins-aligned super PAC through a shell company and later received $32 million in naval contracts, leveraging Collins' position on the Senate Appropriations Committee to steer federal funding to his company.
- Federal investigators probed Collins' campaign finances between 2020 and 2025, but the inquiry stalled after President Donald Trump returned to office in 2025 when the administration dismantled anti-corruption units assigned to the case.
- Annie Clark, Collins' deputy chief of staff, called the allegations "categorically false" and stated the campaign was never an FBI target; an FBI spokesperson told ProPublica the bureau found no evidence implicating the senator.
- With the election six weeks away, Democratic challenger Troy Jackson called the allegations "corruption of the highest order," while strategists warn the report could undermine Collins' reputation as an independent voice in the tightly contested Maine race.
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Donor Behind Collins Campaign Finance Scandal Also Gave to Shaheen
The campaign donation controversy that created embarrassing national headlines for GOP U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in Maine has now crossed state lines to ensnare U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen as well. The retiring New Hampshire Democrat received $5,600 in campaign contributions from Martin Kao, the same defense contractor whose illegal political donations have drawn renewed attention to fundraising surrounding Collins’ 2020 reelection campaign. Around t…
Records Contradict Collins’ Claim She Was Cleared in Navatek Probe
WASHINGTON, D.C. — ProPublica says records from an FBI anti-corruption investigation contradict several public statements Sen. Susan Collins has made while defending her relationship with former Navatek CEO Martin Kao, a major political donor convicted of campaign-finance and loan fraud. Collins has said the Biden Justice Department and FBI “totally cleared” her, her office and her campaign years ago. But ProPublica reports that the investigatio…
ProPublica
The Gilmer MirrorSusan Collins Dismissed Our Reporting as Old News. Some of Her Claims Aren’t True.
ProPublica revealed that the FBI was circling Sen. Collins over a defense contractor’s donations — until President Trump gutted the unit in charge. Collins has since mustered a defense with a series of incorrect and misleading claims.
Collins denies allegations in corruption report: ‘Absolutely outrageous’ - Regional Media News
(WASHINGTON) - Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins is vehemently denying a ProPublica report out earlier this week that says the FBI targeted her in a corruption probe, saying "it's clearly a political hit job." The ProPublica report said that a Republican consultant asked defense firm [...]
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