ProPublica reports FBI corruption inquiry involving Susan Collins stalled
The FBI said it found nothing implicating the senator or her campaign. The allegations came from Navatek chief executive Martin Kao, who was seeking a reduced sentence.
ProPublica reports that FBI investigators gathered evidence for a possible public corruption inquiry involving Senator Susan Collins and Martin Kao, then chief executive of defence contractor Navatek. The outlet says it reviewed FBI evidence and legal records and interviewed people familiar with the inquiry.
Kao told investigators that donations by him and associates were connected to Navatek’s pursuit of government contracts, and described Collins as the company’s most important patron. He provided information after his 2022 indictment over illegal campaign contributions, while seeking a reduced sentence.
ProPublica reports that the inquiry stalled after FBI and Justice Department teams handling public corruption cases were dismantled, and that the government stopped communicating with an informant. The supplied account does not establish whether Collins knew of or accepted any donation-for-contract arrangement.
Collins’ deputy chief of staff said her office vigorously denies Kao’s bribery and pay-for-play allegations and fully co-operated with the FBI. The FBI said it “ultimately found nothing implicating Senator Collins” or her campaign, but did not address questions about a later phase prompted by Kao’s account.
Navatek founder Steven Loui described Kao’s methods as unethical and illegal and said the company co-operated with law enforcement. The material does not provide an independent resolution of the reported links between donations and specific contracts.
