The University of Maine on Tuesday found itself caught up in an alleged bribery scheme involving defense contracts and Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.
Allegations that Collins was accepting campaign contributions from the CEO of Navatek, a Hawaii-based defense company, in return for government funding and contracts were reported Tuesday by ProPublica. Collins’ team has denied any wrongdoing.
Hours after the ProPublica story published, Collins’ deputy chief of staff said the connection between Collins and Navatek began due not to lobbyists, but rather the company’s relationship to the University of Maine.
Former Navatek CEO Martin Kao told the FBI he orchestrated deals for multimillion-dollar defense contracts through several lobbyists and members of Congress, including Collins, after he and his family made campaign contributions, ProPublica reported Tuesday. Kao later pleaded guilty to unlawful campaign contributions.
Navatek was brought to Collins’ attention through the company’s “long working relationship with the University of Maine,” and not through an alleged pay-to-play scheme reported by ProPublica, Annie Clark, Collins’ deputy chief of staff, said.
“Senator Collins routinely meets with companies that do business in Maine, and she regularly supports Maine companies that have good products,” Clark said. “She does not ‘steer’ contracts to entities, she advocates for them on their merits.” Emails obtained by ProPublica and interviews by the news organization suggest that Collins did steer contracts to Navatek.
In a meeting with Collins’ staff, Kao pitched an $8 million project researching 3D-printed boat hulls that Navatek and UMaine would work on together, according to ProPublica. The research did not lead to boats being bought or used by the U.S. military.
The ProPublica report “misrepresented UMaine’s research and development, which Senator Collins has long and effectively championed,” University of Maine spokesperson Samantha Warren told the Bangor Daily News in response to multiple questions about the university’s relationship to Navatek and ProPublica’s reporting.
Warren did not provide a comment when asked about Clark’s claim.
Navatek executives knew the Navy did not want the 3D-printed boats, and the military did not receive any of the boats, according to the ProPublica article.
But Navy funding for the project was meant to show that the materials and process could be used to create a 3D-printed boat, not the boat itself, Warren said. The Navy funds basic and fundamental research at UMaine, Warren added.
UMaine did not reply to a request for comment from ProPublica prior to the story’s publication, the news outlet said.
Warren did not answer questions from the BDN about how long UMaine worked with Navatek, but did say, in her understanding, the university has not interacted with Navatek or the company it later became since 2021. Navatek funding was not used for the 3D-printed boat “as I understand,” Warren said.
UMaine called Navatek “a leader in ship design and a UMaine Composites Center industrial partner” in its 2019 press release from the university’s unveiling of 3Dirigo, the composite center’s first 3D-printed boat.
UMaine has continued its development of 3D-printed boats, making two prototypes for the U.S. Marine Corps in 2022 and unveiling 3Dirigo X, another first of its kind boat, in August. Collins attended the boat’s debut in Hampden.
The university is still developing manufacturing technology that has been used for military vessels, Warren said.
“We are deeply grateful that UMaine’s world-class advanced manufacturing R&D is supported by Senator Collins and the rest of Maine’s Congressional Delegation, as well as the U.S. government and industry partners, because of its incredible promise for our nation’s economy, defense and global leadership,” Warren said.
BDN writer Benjamin Kail contributed to this report.