Investigate and Prosecute the Collins-Navatek Pay-to-Play Scheme

Reopen the FBI investigation into Susan Collins and the Navatek pay-to-play scheme — and pursue charges wherever the evidence leads. ProPublica's reporting makes clear this is not a matter of political disagreement. A defense contractor confessed to FBI agents that his company won over $40 million in federal contracts by funneling nearly $900,000 to politicians, with Collins as his most important patron. Seven days after her super PAC cashed a $150,000 check from Kao's shell company, her office asked for his phone number so she could personally call to thank him. The FBI had enough evidence by late 2024 to launch a sweeping bribery investigation. Then Trump took office, fired the agents who built the case, and shut the whole thing down. Agent Michelle Ball was terminated for "weaponizing" the DOJ — after spending years documenting how taxpayer money was cycled back into campaign contributions. That is not justice. That is a cover-up. Congress has independent oversight authority and must use it. Convene hearings, subpoena the records the FBI already collected, and demand accountability for everyone named in Kao's 50-page confession. The public paid for those contracts. We deserve to know what we got in return.