Corruption Probe Involved Sen. Susan Collins

 

ProPublica is reporting that the FBI was beginning to look at connections between Maine Republican Sen. Susan "Concerned" Collins and a defense contractor willing to contribute to her campaign in exchange for Government contracts.  Excerpts from their report:

"In the final weeks of 2019, a top fundraiser for Sen. Susan Collins walked into a perilous meeting at a Corner Bakery in Washington, D.C.

For the first time in her two-decade Senate career, the Republican lawmaker from Maine was in danger of losing her seat. President Donald Trump’s dismal approval ratings were dragging her down in the polls, and she was falling behind her likely 2020 Democratic challenger in fundraising.

Scott Reed, head of the Collins super PAC, was on a mission to close that gap. Reed was meeting that day with three executives from a Hawaiian defense contractor, Navatek. A year earlier, Collins had helped their company land a multimillion-dollar Navy research contract in Maine. Now, seated at a coffee shop not far from the U.S. Capitol, Reed asked them for a $500,000 donation.

Government contractors are banned from making political contributions. More consequentially, for the company to offer donations to Collins in exchange for an official action, or for Collins to accept, would constitute criminal bribery.

But the company did have such a proposal: Navatek was hungry for more government contracts in Maine. If they cut a big check, the CEO told Reed, Navatek wanted Collins to guarantee tens of millions of dollars in additional federal funding.

To skirt campaign finance laws and conceal the source of the funds, Navatek planned to funnel the donation through a shell company. The CEO wanted assurance that Collins would know where the money came from. Reed confirmed that she would, the executive said — and that Navatek would get its government contracts." (our emphasis)

By late 2024, the FBI's public corruption unit was getting closer to Collins' involvement in the pay-to-play scheme.  The election of the corrupt, vindictive Malignant Fascist and his gutting of the public corruption unit at the FBI / DOJ began, in retaliation for the unit's participation in the public corruption investigations of the MF himself.  The Collins investigation, along with other public corruption investigations, died at the hands of the most corrupt person ever to occupy the Oval Office.

Collins is in a battle with Dem Troy Jackson for her seat in the mid-term elections. You can help counter Collins' corporate bribe money by contributing to Jackson's campaign here.

(photo: Collins with her concerned look)