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Sen. Susan Collins campaigns on her Appropriations Committee clout and the money she brings home to Maine. It’s good for Mainers to know who bought that clout. 

According to Sept. 22 reporting by ProPublica, in 2019, Martin Kao, the CEO of government contractor Navatek, met with the head of Collins’ super PAC, who was soliciting a big donation. Kao reportedly later told the FBI that Navatek offered such a donation in exchange for Collins supporting tens of millions more in federal funding.

Kao then routed $150,000 through a shell company to the Collins super PAC and he told the FBI he was assured that Collins would know the money’s source. In February 2020, following a meeting with Collins’ office, Kao reported to colleagues: “Total of $32M will be supported.” At least $10 million was allocated that year based on Navatek’s proposals.

Kao reportedly told the FBI the donation was part of a broader pay-to-play scheme involving political donations. By 2024, the FBI had gathered enough evidence to pursue a bribery investigation involving multiple members of Congress. The inquiry went dormant after the FBI’s anti-corruption unit was eviscerated by the Trump administration in 2025 and 2026.

If that’s Collins “bringing home the bacon,” Mainers deserve to know before the midterms whether the conduct ProPublica reports would constitute criminal bribery and further, whether the use of her clout was for the benefit of Mainers and the American people, or for the benefit of her reelection campaign.

Nancy Fannon and Thomas Glendon
South Portland