Susan Collins Denies Bribery Allegations in ProPublica Report

A ProPublica report published on September 22, 2026, alleges that Susan Collins participated in a pay-to-play scheme during her 2020 reelection campaign. The report claims Martin Kao, former CEO of defense contractor Navatek, funneled $150,000 through a shell company to a super PAC supporting Collins in exchange for $32 million in federal naval contracts. Kao, currently serving an 87-month prison sentence for fraud and money laundering, reportedly told the FBI that Collins personally promised to deliver for him.

Senator Collins and her staff have categorically denied the allegations, describing the reporting as a partisan smear job. Her office asserts that the Biden-led Justice Department and FBI investigated the matter years ago and cleared her of any wrongdoing. However, ProPublica alleges that a separate, broader bribery probe launched in 2024 was effectively frozen after Donald Trump returned to office in early 2025 and purged the FBI's anti-corruption unit and the DOJ's Public Integrity Section.

The controversy has intensified during Collins' 2026 reelection campaign. Democratic challenger Troy Jackson has characterized the allegations as corruption of the highest order, while the FBI maintains that any suggestion of a cover-up is totally false. Additional scrutiny has fallen on Scott Reed, a Republican strategist and head of the Pine Tree Results PAC, who allegedly discussed circumventing campaign finance laws with Kao.