PORTLAND, Maine — Maine Democrats on Wednesday assailed U.S. Sen. Susan Collins over a news report that the FBI investigated how much she knew about illegal campaign contributions that sent one of her donors to prison.
The ProPublica report, published Tuesday, states that the FBI in 2024 planned to launch an investigation into Collins' dealings with Navatek, a Hawaii defense contractor and donor to her campaign. The investigation, which focused on an alleged pay-to-play scheme, failed to commence after President Donald Trump took office after winning the election, according to ProPublica.
The report arrived six weeks before an election where Collins is seeking her sixth term against Democrat Troy Jackson. Democrats have targeted the seat, in a state that Trump lost in 2024, as the party tries to win control of the Senate, making it one of the most competitive races on the November ballot.
Collins on Tuesday called the entire story “absolutely outrageous” and said it is frustrating and unfair to have such claims made against her so close to the election. Her campaign manager, Steve Abbott, also said Wednesday the allegation that “we charge people to have meetings” is categorically false and Collins accepting campaign cash for contracts “did not happen.”
Jackson called the allegation “corruption of the highest order.” He was not present Wednesday when a group of Maine Democrats held a news conference near Collins' Portland office, but said the allegations are a betrayal of trust.
“I cannot stress enough here today the seriousness of these allegations. Maine people deserve clear and real answers from Susan Collins right now,” Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson said.
FBI says allegations were already investigated
The ProPublica report stated that the head of a Collins super PAC met with executives from defense contractor Navatek in 2019 and asked them for a $500,000 campaign donation. The company's CEO, Martin Kao, sent an initial $150,000 donation using a shell company, the report stated. ProPublica reported that it reviewed an internal company email from Kao in which the CEO later told Navatek executives that Collins committed to getting the company $32 million in Navy contracts.
Kao and two other Navatek executives were later indicted on charges of funneling illegal donations to Collins. Kao sought to reduce his jail sentence by revealing to the FBI the full scope of illegal contributions to Collins, ProPublica reported.
Collins said Kao is "a liar" whose story is untrustworthy.
“He has been twice convicted in separate federal court cases. He’s been convicted of money laundering. He’s been convicted of bank fraud. He has been convicted of false submissions to the FEC. He’s being convicted of a lot of crimes,” she said.
An FBI spokesperson said in a statement that the allegations "had already been investigated by the FBI years ago and ultimately found nothing implicating Senator Collins or Senator Collins’ campaign. Any suggestion otherwise is totally false.”
The ProPublica article also states that Trump's return to the White House left the Justice Department unable to perform the investigation.
Corruption investigations have decreased in Trump's second term
The number of FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors specializing in corruption investigations plummeted in the first months of the Trump administration. The Justice Department, for instance, decimated its elite Public Integrity Section in early 2025 while the FBI disbanded a white-collar fraud and public corruption squad based out of its Washington field office.
The administration has also fired numerous law enforcement officials who participated in investigations into Trump, including over his efforts to undo the 2020 presidential election he lost and his retention of classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
An email seeking comment was sent to the Justice Department on Wednesday.
Collins said she first learned of the company through the University of Maine because of the research the Navy found to be valuable, which had to do with 3D printing for production.
She said the Justice Department has already reviewed the matter.
“I’m telling you this is completely false,” Collins said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune dismissed the idea that Collins would be implicated in a pay-to-play scheme, calling the allegations “a political hit job.”
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Mascaro reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., and Kimberlee Kruesi in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.
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