A ProPublica report alleging U.S. Sen. Susan Collins was linked to a pay-for-play scheme and that the FBI killed an investigation into it roiled her tight Senate race with Democrat Troy Jackson on Tuesday.
The FBI shut down an investigation last year into claims by a Hawaii-based defense contractor who alleged a pay-to-play scheme involving almost $1 million in donations to dozens of lawmakers in exchange for contracts, the investigative outlet reported.
The Maine Democratic Party scheduled a news conference in Portland Wednesday morning after what it called ProPublica’s “bombshell” story. Prominent Republicans in Maine and across the country attacked the outlet in the wake of the story. But there were concerns behind the scenes within the party, and many saw it as a meaningful hit targeting Collins’ integrity.
“This type of viral social media story is certainly not what you want,” a Maine Republican operative said in a text message under condition of anonymity to discuss the race candidly.
ProPublica cited an illegal $150,000 donation from Navatek CEO Martin Kao, made to a pro-Collins PAC through a shell company during her 2020 election. Kao later pleaded guilty to illegal donations, including ones made to Collins by family members whom he reimbursed.
The New York Times confirmed later Tuesday that the investigation was closed, but reported that FBI leadership didn’t believe Kao’s story. ProPublica said it corroborated much of Kao’s account and suggested the investigation was scuttled as part of President Donald Trump’s overhaul of the Justice Department.
Collins’ team denies any wrongdoing. They say the campaign had no knowledge of allegations against Kao, and no involvement in any discussions between the CEO and the political group that took it. Its leader, Scott Reed, is running another pro-Collins group, Pine Tree Results, which has reserved $28 million in advertising to help her in this race.
The large amount of money within the 2020 operation led Lance Dutson, a Republican consultant and former Collins staffer, to call it “completely bananas” to think that staffers would risk prison time for donations of $150,000.
“You don’t spend 30 years under the public microscope and then suddenly be involved in a massive criminal enterprise,” he said.
But Jackson and his allies, trying to unseat Collins and retake the U.S. Senate in one of the biggest races in the country, see a new window where other candidates have failed to put a dent in the five-term incumbent’s success, which has relied on Democrats and independents.
That includes Graham Platner, whom Jackson replaced after an ex-girlfriend accused him of rape, and former state House Speaker Sara Gideon, who leaned into claims of corruption but lost to Collins in 2020 despite leading in polls and fundraising for most of the year.
“Even teflon, if you scratch it enough times, starts to stick,” Jason Shedlock, a Jackson ally and president of the Maine Building and Construction Trades Council, said in an interview. “This isn’t a scratch, this is a gash. All the explanations in the world aren’t going to alleviate our concern and disappointment.”
Republican strategist Matt Whitlock said there were “gaping issues with the ProPublica hit piece,” and that “even the Biden FBI debunked all of it years ago.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, also called it a “political hit job by a left-wing outlet” ahead of the midterms.
“I don’t think there’s ever been any implication that she or her campaign were in any way implicated in that,” he told reporters, according to Punchbowl News.
Asked about Collins wanting to thank Kao for a donation, according to an email between a Navatek lobbyist and Reed, Clark said Super PACs make their donations public and “it is fairly standard practice for senators to thank donors.”
The senator’s office became aware that Kao used a shell company to donate to the pro-Collins PAC through a press report in 2020, Clark said.
“The overwhelming majority of the congressionally-directed spending and other projects that Senator Collins has been able to secure for Maine did not involve anyone who has donated to her campaign,” she said. “In fact, it has sometimes involved people who oppose her reelection efforts.”
But the story was rearing its head even in other races on Tuesday.
“I think the allegations are very damaging to the institution of government and of course, Sen. Collins will have to answer those herself,” State Auditor Matt Dunlap, running for the 2nd Congressional District, told reporters in Old Town.