The FBI investigated Senator Susan Collins for an alleged bribery scheme involving defense contractor Navatek until the Trump administration shut down the probe in 2025. Former Navatek CEO Martin Kao claimed he funneled campaign donations to Collins' super PAC in exchange for $32 million in naval contracts. Collins' office vigorously denies the allegations, calling them false and outlandish. The revelations have injected intense controversy into the tight 2026 Maine Senate race between Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson.
FBI bribery investigation into Collins
- ▪The FBI investigated allegations that a political adviser to Senator Susan Collins participated in an illegal campaign contribution scheme with defense contractor Navatek
- ▪FBI agents asked former Navatek CEO Martin Kao extensive questions about his dealings with Senator Susan Collins and her office during interviews that lasted into late 2024
- ▪The FBI public corruption inquiry into Senator Susan Collins was initiated under the Biden administration based on disclosures from former Navatek CEO Martin Kao
Navatek pay-to-play scheme allegations
- ▪Former Navatek CEO Martin Kao provided the FBI with a 50-page document detailing a pay-to-play operation involving nearly $900,000 in donations to dozens of politicians
- ▪Navatek CEO Martin Kao sent a $150,000 donation to the Susan Collins super PAC using a shell company named the Society of Young Women Scientists and Engineers
- ▪Former Navatek CEO Martin Kao alleged that he met with Scott Reed, head of the super PAC supporting Susan Collins' 2020 reelection campaign, in late 2019 to arrange a $500,000 donation in exchange for federal contracts
Trump administration termination of probe
- ▪The FBI shut down the public corruption investigation into Senator Susan Collins and her advisers in 2025 after Donald Trump returned to the White House
- ▪According to ProPublica's report on the FBI investigation into an alleged bribery scheme involving Senator Susan Collins, Scott Reed, and Navatek CEO Martin Kao, the specialized FBI and Department of Justice teams handling public corruption investigations were significantly disrupted or dismantled under the Trump administration
- ▪Senior FBI officials closed the inquiry into Martin Kao's allegations in 2025 because they questioned the veracity of Martin Kao's account and found little corroborating evidence against Senator Susan Collins
Collins campaign denials of wrongdoing
- ▪Super PAC director Scott Reed denied having any communications with Senator Susan Collins or her staff regarding Martin Kao or Navatek
- ▪Senator Susan Collins' deputy chief of staff Annie Clark vigorously denied the bribery allegations, calling the claims of pay-to-play made by Martin Kao outlandish and false
Debatable claims
- ▪The FBI investigation into Senator Susan Collins was a partisan fishing expedition
- ▪The FBI's closure of the Susan Collins corruption investigation was politically motivated
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