Investigate, censure, Sen. Collins' Navatek bribery scandal. Fix the FBI

The recent reporting about Senator Collins's sneaky deal with Navatek, a meeting in a bakery, a shell company, massive campaign donations and then contracts funnelled to Navatek is an outrage to Democracy and fair dealing. It is even more disturbing to learn that an FBI investigation was shut down, apparently at Trump's instigation. Collins' staff can deny this all they like, but the scandal will not go away. I am sure you have read the recent report in Pro Public: Here's a quotation: “It was a simple enough play. Let’s find the small states that have complementary universities … [and] let’s get access to their senators,” Eric Schiff, a former Navatek executive, told ProPublica. “I’ve met Susan Collins. You can get access to Susan Collins. Once we got the first things working with Maine, then we said, ‘Well, let’s keep reaching.’ And so we did.” In a statement to ProPublica, Navatek founder Loui said Kao’s “unethical and illegal method of winning contracts” was a departure from how he operated the company prior to Kao’s ownership. And consider this, still from Pro Publica: Often, Navatek composed language that ended up, word for word, in Senate funding requests, former employees said. In 2019, for example, Navatek’s priorities were tucked into page 185 of the 307-page report released by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The committee set aside $21.5 million for “hybrid composite structures research for enhanced mobility,” “electric propulsion for military craft and advanced planing hulls” and a “test bed for autonomous ship systems.” Although Navatek’s name does not appear on the page, these were all projects the company requested, according to internal documents and interviews with former employees." All this is even more improper when you consider that Collins is currently chair of the Appropriations Committee-- and had been on the committee, perhaps even ranking member, when these shenanigans occurred. I ask you to take a stand against this kind of corrupt secret quid pro quo dealing. It's bribery. I also ask you to hold hearings, use subpoena power, and investigate not only Collins and Navatek and Mr Kao, but also to get to the bottom of WHY the FBI investigation was shut down. Who gave the order? When? It is intolerable for this kind of secret bribery to occur, intolerable that a private corporation should get language it chose inserted into bills, and intolerable that a sitting US senator would go to such lengths to obtain campaign donations. Collins needs to be investigated and censured. And we need to get shady money out of politics. Our Democracy is not for sale.