FBI Dropped Collins Bribery Probe Under Trump-Era Purge

The FBI shut down a pay-for-play probe tied to Sen. Susan Collins as the Trump administration gutted DOJ corruption enforcement.

A ProPublica investigation reported this week that the FBI began probing allegations that a political adviser to Sen. Susan Collins participated in a scheme to funnel illegal campaign contributions from defense contractor Navatek in exchange for federal contracts. According to The Seattle Times, carrying reporting by The New York Times, the bureau shut the inquiry down in 2025 after senior officials questioned the veracity of contractor CEO Martin Kao's account, which he began offering around the time he pleaded guilty in 2022.

The timing is explosive: the disclosure landed in the final weeks of a tight Maine Senate race between Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson that could decide Senate control. The Seattle Times reports the shutdown prompted accusations that the FBI's decision was shaped by political considerations around safeguarding a critical seat. The Bangor Daily News reports the story immediately roiled the race, with the Maine Democratic Party scheduling a news conference and Republicans behind the scenes privately conceding it was a meaningful hit on Collins' integrity.

ProPublica says Kao named dozens of lobbyists, staffers and members of Congress, and that it independently corroborated much of his account through legal records, FBI evidence and dozens of interviews. The Seattle Times reports agents uncovered little evidence corroborating the claims against Collins and Reed.

Collins' office denies any wrongdoing. In a statement to ProPublica, the FBI said it "ultimately found nothing implicating Senator Collins or Senator Collins' campaign," and her deputy chief of staff, Annie Clark, called Kao's bribery allegations "outlandish" and "categorically false," saying the campaign cooperated fully, produced all requested documents and ultimately returned the money.

According to ProPublica, when President Trump took office in 2025 he gutted the Justice Department's public integrity section, pushing out most of its attorneys and stripping its authority to file new cases, so the inquiry into Kao's broader allegations never advanced. ProPublica notes Gallup recently found Americans' perceptions of government corruption are at their highest level in 20 years, and the Supreme Court has narrowed bribery definitions so far that a post-contract payment was ruled a mere "gratuity."

The Bangor Daily News reports Jackson and his allies see a fresh opening against the five-term incumbent, with one ally calling the story "not a scratch, this is a gash." Reed is running another pro-Collins group, Pine Tree Results, which has reserved $28 million in advertising for the race. ProPublica's Paul Waldman argues the fix lies in restoring DOJ staffing, passing new laws to reverse the Supreme Court's narrowed bribery rulings, and prosecuting white-collar crime aggressively so officials cannot count on impunity.