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FBI probe into Susan Collins and donor reportedly ended after Trump returned to office

An investigation into alleged pay-to-play between the senator and a defense contractor was reportedly halted.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published Updated
Beatrice Caciotti for ProPublica. Source images: U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ official Facebook page.

What this story says

  • The FBI sought to launch a pay-to-play investigation into interactions between Senator Susan Collins and defense contractor Navatek's CEO, Martin Kao, in 2024.
  • Navatek's CEO, Martin Kao, allegedly offered a $500,000 donation to Collins' super PAC in exchange for guarantees of federal funding.
  • Navatek reportedly funneled an initial $150,000 through a shell company to the super PAC.
  • The FBI investigation reportedly ended after Donald Trump returned to office, with no one working for Collins being charged.

Who covered it

Left 62%(40)Centre 24%(16)Right 14%(9)

Percentages are shares of the 65 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 12 of the 77 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

70/100

Craft

70/100

Hype

45/100

77 sources · methodology

Missing from the right

Only 9 of the 65 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.

A reader who follows the right would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.

In late 2019, a fundraiser for Senator Susan Collins met with executives from the defense contractor Navatek. The fundraiser, Scott Reed, reportedly solicited a $500,000 donation from Navatek's CEO, Martin Kao. Kao allegedly offered the donation in exchange for Collins guaranteeing tens of millions in federal funding for the company. Navatek reportedly planned to funnel the donation through a shell company to conceal its source. An initial $150,000 was reportedly sent to Collins' super PAC through this method. In 2022, Kao was indicted for illegal campaign contributions, but no one associated with Collins was charged.

Disagreement on investigation timeline

The Gilmer Mirror and ProPublica report that the FBI sought to launch a sweeping pay-to-play investigation into Collins' interactions with Kao in 2024. Maine Public and Bangor Daily News state that the FBI sought to launch a sweeping political bribery probe after catching the contractor's CEO making illegal contributions, with the second Trump administration dismantling the unit handling the inquiry. The Gilmer Mirror and ProPublica also state the investigation reportedly ended after Donald Trump returned to office.

What the coverage left out

None of the left-rated or centre-rated reports mention the FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson's statement that the agency investigated claims against Collins years ago and "ultimately found nothing implicating Senator Collins or Senator Collins’ campaign."

Coverage settled. We checked this 37 times and stopped on 28 Sept 2026, 01:15. The figures above are what it finished at.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

40 rated outlets

  • Left-rated reports led on the FBI's attempt to launch a pay-to-play investigation into Senator Susan Collins and a top donor, Martin Kao. The reports stated the investigation was reportedly halted after Donald Trump returned to office, with ProPublica and The Gilmer Mirror noting the FBI sought to launch the probe in 2024. These outlets detailed that Kao allegedly offered a $500,000 donation to Collins' super PAC in exchange for guaranteed federal funding. They also reported that Navatek funneled an initial $150,000 through a shell company to the super PAC. ProPublica and The Gilmer Mirror quoted the headline "The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins, Until Trump Got in the Way" and highlighted that Kao was indicted for illegal campaign contributions while no one working for Collins was charged. Maine Public, Bangor Daily News, and Raw Story also used similar headlines and stated the FBI sought to launch a sweeping political bribery probe involving Collins and others before the second Trump administration dismantled the unit handling the inquiry.

Centre

16 rated outlets

  • Centre-rated reports focused on the FBI's alleged investigation into Senator Susan Collins and a top donor, Martin Kao, which was reportedly ended after Donald Trump returned to office. The Portland Press Herald and The Gilmer Mirror used the headline "The FBI anti-corruption squad was circling Susan Collins, until Trump got in the way." Both reports mentioned that the FBI sought to launch a sweeping pay-to-play investigation examining interactions between Collins and Kao. The Gilmer Mirror also provided details about the alleged solicitation of a $500,000 donation from Navatek's CEO in exchange for federal funding guarantees and Kao's subsequent indictment for illegal campaign contributions.

Right

9 rated outlets

We have not written our reading of the right coverage of this story. The right-rated outlets that ran it are listed below.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover FBI probe into Susan Collins and donor reportedly ended after Trump…?
Of the 65 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 62% are rated left, 24% are rated centre, 14% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 77. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is FBI probe into Susan Collins and donor reportedly ended after Trump… left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 65 rated outlets on this story, 62% are rated left, 24% are rated centre, 14% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of FBI probe into Susan Collins and donor reportedly ended after Trump… biased?
FBI probe into Susan Collins and donor reportedly ended after Trump returned to office is one event reported by 77 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting FBI probe into Susan Collins and donor reportedly ended after Trump…?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered FBI probe into Susan Collins and donor reportedly ended after Trump…?
77 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
What was the alleged pay-to-play scheme involving Senator Susan Collins?
The FBI reportedly sought to investigate allegations that Navatek CEO Martin Kao offered a $500,000 donation to Senator Susan Collins' super PAC in exchange for guarantees of tens of millions in federal funding. Navatek allegedly funneled an initial $150,000 through a shell company.
What happened to Martin Kao?
Martin Kao, the CEO of Navatek, was indicted in 2022 for making illegal campaign contributions. He reportedly cooperated with the FBI, providing details of the alleged scheme in exchange for a potential reduction in his prison sentence.
Did anyone working for Susan Collins face charges?
According to the reports, no one working for Senator Susan Collins was charged in connection with the investigation into Martin Kao and Navatek's alleged campaign contributions.
Why did the FBI investigation reportedly end?
The FBI investigation into the alleged pay-to-play scheme reportedly ended after Donald Trump returned to office. Reports suggest that specialized FBI and Department of Justice teams handling public corruption investigations were dismantled during that period.

Read it at the source

77 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

40
Show 32 more

Centre

16
Show 8 more

Right

9
Show 1 more

Not rated

12
Show 4 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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