On September 22, ProPublica published a story about US Sen. Susan Collins: "The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the Way," by William Turton, Avi Asher-Schapiro, Molly Redden and Kirsten Berg.
In 2019, Scott Reed was head of the Collins super PAC and had to raise some significant funds, so (as one does, I guess!) he met with three executives from Hawaiian defense contractor Navatek. Because Navatek was a government contractor, any donation from them would constitute an illegal bribe.
"A year earlier, Collins had helped their company land a multimillion-dollar Navy research contract in Maine," ProPublica reports. "Now, seated at a coffee shop not far from the U.S. Capitol, Reed asked them for a $500,000 donation."
"After the Corner Bakery meeting, Navatek’s CEO, Martin Kao, sent an initial $150,000 to the Collins super PAC using the shell company. Two months later, he told Navatek executives that Collins committed to getting the company $32 million in naval contracts, according to an internal company email reviewed by ProPublica."
As summed up by Common Dreams, Collins "was at the center of a 'sprawling pay-to-play operation' under which the chief executive of a Hawaii-based defense contractor [Navatek] allegedly funneled campaign cash to lawmakers in exchange for lucrative federal contracts."
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