FBI Accused Of Shutting Down Investigation Into Alleged Wrongdoing By Susan Collins’ Campaign Staff

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reportedly shut down an investigation in 2025 into whether Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins’ political adviser engaged in a campaign funneling scheme with a defense contractor.

Martin Kao, the former CEO of Hawaii-based Navatek, told the FBI in 2022 that he discussed circumventing campaign finance laws with Collins’ fundraiser Scott Reed to illegally funnel money to Collins’ 2020 campaign and a super political action committee (PAC) backing her, ProPublica first reported. He alleged Reed asked him for a $500,000 donation for the pro-Collins super PAC in 2019, prompting Kao to set up a shell entity to route $150,000 to the super PAC.

Around that time, Navatek received an $8 million contract for a boat hull research project, which Collins’ office celebrated in an August 2019 press release. The senator visited the company’s offices in Maine to celebrate the deal and posted a photograph of herself, Kao and others on Facebook holding a model boat, according to ProPublica.

Collins and her campaign were never accused of any wrongdoing in that case. The FBI maintained that its investigation did not uncover much evidence to corroborate Kao’s allegations against Collins and her campaign.

“While the FBI does not comment on investigative procedures, the allegations made in this article had already been investigated by the FBI years ago and ultimately found nothing implicating Senator Collins or Senator Collins’ campaign,” the FBI told the DCNF. “Any suggestion otherwise is totally false. Furthermore, as we have said repeatedly, personnel are only removed at this FBI if they have been found to have acted unethically, undermined the mission, or engaged in weaponization of law enforcement. Any suggestion otherwise is false.”

Kao is serving a 33-month prison sentence for improperly funneling $200,000 in campaign contributions to Collins’ 2020 campaign and the super PAC. He is also serving an 87-month sentence for wire fraud, money laundering and bank fraud after obtaining $12 million in COVID-19 relief funds.

Kao allegedly provided FBI agents in 2024 with a list of lobbyists, members of Congress and congressional staffers who he claimed helped him trade cash for contracts, according to ProPublica. The agents reportedly had enough evidence “to pursue a sweeping bribery probe that could ensnare top lawmakers of both political parties.” They allegedly asked Kao extensive questions about his dealings with Collins and her office.

An inquiry into Collins’ campaign opened during former President Joe Biden’s administration and closed under President Donald Trump’s current administration when senior bureau officials questioned the reliability of Kao’s allegations, according to The New York Times. Current and former officials familiar with the investigation said agents did not uncover much evidence to corroborate Kao’s claims against Collins and her adviser, but said it was possible more could have been uncovered if the investigation developed further.

ProPublica suggested that Trump’s cuts to public corruption teams in the FBI led to the shutdown of the investigation.