Maine Democrats criticize U.S. Sen. Susan Collins after a report says the FBI considered investigating whether she knew about illegal campaign contributions tied to a pay-to-play scheme. PBS reports Democrats accuse Collins in response to coverage that describes an FBI inquiry involving donations associated with one of her donors who has been sent to prison.
The Guardian, citing ProPublica, says the allegation centers on claims that Collins’s connections to a donor and related activity raised bribery concerns. It reports that ProPublica describes steps taken in the lead-up to Collins’s 2020 reelection, including a Super PAC linked to her that solicited a donation from contracting firm Navatek amid alleged expectations of business assurances from the government. The article also says Republican Collins rejects the claims, calling them “categorically” or “completely” false. The two outlets present the political fallout and describe the substance of the investigation report, but they differ in how much detail they provide about the underlying timeline and the role of efforts attributed to the Super PAC.
