FBI agents investigating political corruption gathered extensive evidence and sought to expand a possible bribery investigation involving Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and a defense contractor whose chief executive secretly funneled money to a super PAC supporting her, according to an investigation published Tuesday by ProPublica.
The previously undisclosed federal investigation examined whether campaign contributions from Martin Kao, then-CEO of defense contractor Navatek, were connected to Collins’ efforts to steer millions of dollars in Navy funding toward the company.
By late 2024, FBI agents believed they had enough evidence to seek a broader investigation of possible bribery involving members of Congress from both parties, ProPublica reported.
No charges were brought against Collins or anyone working for her, and her office vigorously denied Kao’s allegations. The FBI also disputed the implication that the Republican politician had been implicated in wrongdoing, saying an earlier investigation “ultimately found nothing implicating Senator Collins or Senator Collins’ campaign.”
The FBI and other federal agencies no longer have the credibility they once did, as a variety of documented lies have become common in the last year and a half. Critics, congressional Democrats, and media freedom advocates, argue that federal law enforcement has been increasingly politicized under current administrative initiatives.
Concerns have been raised regarding a sweeping purge of veteran agents, the halting of high-profile corruption probes, and retaliatory leak investigations into journalists covering internal controversies. Organizations like the Freedom of the Press Foundation have criticized these internal probes as an overreach that damages the bureau’s transparency and adherence to constitutional norms.
The agency did not answer ProPublica’s questions about a separate investigation initiated in 2024 after Kao began cooperating extensively with investigators.
The disclosures arrive as Collins seeks another term in a closely watched race against Democrat Troy Jackson.
The RealClearPolitics polling average Tuesday showed Jackson at 47.2% and Collins at 45.4%, a 1.8 percentage-point difference. Polling represents a snapshot of voter preferences at the time surveys are conducted, not a prediction of the election result.
$150,000 through a shell company
At the center of the investigation was Kao, who headed Navatek, a Hawaii-based engineering and defense company that sought federal research money and contracts in Maine and other states.
According to ProPublica, Scott Reed, chairman of the pro-Collins 1820 PAC, met with Kao and two other Navatek executives at a Corner Bakery in Washington in late 2019. Kao told investigators that Reed sought a $500,000 contribution while Navatek wanted tens of millions of dollars in additional federal funding.
Kao subsequently sent an initial $150,000 to the Collins super PAC through a newly created shell company. Two months later, Kao told Navatek executives that Collins had committed to supporting $32 million in naval funding, according to an internal company email reviewed by ProPublica.
A February 2020 email obtained by the FBI said Navatek had been “very warmly received” during a meeting with Collins’ office and added, “Excellent meeting. Total of $32M will be supported.” Congressional records showed that the Senate ultimately allocated at least $10 million that year based on Navatek proposals.
Federal law prohibits government contractors from making federal political contributions. A political contribution made in exchange for an official act can also constitute bribery, although prosecutors must establish the required quid pro quo beyond a reasonable doubt.
Kao’s shell company, the Society of Young Women Scientist and Engineers, attracted scrutiny in early 2020 after the Campaign Legal Center spotted its $150,000 contribution in federal filings and filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission. ProPublica reported that the money actually came from Navatek’s account.
FBI examined Collins’ relationship with donor
The FBI investigation went substantially beyond the shell-company contribution.
Agents collected corporate records and correspondence between Navatek and people in Collins’ political orbit. According to ProPublica, some of that evidence was consistent with the account Kao later provided investigators.
Agents examined donations Kao made in 2018 shortly before Collins included $8 million for a Navatek proposal in a defense spending measure. Emails reviewed by ProPublica showed Collins’ staff later communicated to the Navy that Navatek was the company interested in receiving the funding.
“I spoke with Sen. Collins office regarding the $8M,” a naval official wrote in February 2019, according to an email obtained by ProPublica. “The interested company is Navatek.”
The FBI also examined preparations for an August 2019 event at Navatek’s Maine headquarters attended by Collins. Investigators found emails and company records indicating that Kao arranged more than $40,000 in contributions from relatives before the event, ProPublica reported.
According to the report, Kao instructed Collins’ campaign to attribute excess contributions to his father after he exceeded the individual contribution limit. An FBI agent later flagged the arrangement as potentially violating election law.
“This is perfect,” Collins campaign finance director Amy Abbott wrote Kao after discussing the father’s contribution, according to an email reviewed by ProPublica. “We are so grateful for ALL the Kao support!”
Kao told investigators that he then met privately with Collins, Abbott and another staff member before the Navatek event. According to Kao, a staffer said the campaign expected additional donations, and Collins told him, “You’ve seen me deliver.”
Less than a month later, a Senate draft defense budget included $21.5 million for projects Navatek had sought in Maine. Four days afterward, Kao thanked a Collins campaign fundraiser for the senator’s support and said he was available to help “financially or whatever,” according to ProPublica.
The account is Kao’s allegation, not an established finding that Collins agreed to exchange official action for campaign money.
Kao tells FBI how ‘the method’ worked
Kao’s cooperation eventually expanded far beyond Collins.
After pleading guilty in 2022 to campaign finance and fraud offenses, Kao began providing information to the same federal investigators who had prosecuted him. He faced a lengthy prison term and therefore had an incentive to cooperate — a credibility issue investigators and prosecutors had to consider.
Over three days of interviews at the U.S. attorney’s office in Honolulu, Kao described what he portrayed as a systematic effort to use political contributions and lobbyists to obtain government funding.
He ultimately provided investigators with a 50-page document identifying dozens of lobbyists, congressional employees and lawmakers whom he said had helped the company exchange political money for government contracts. Kao and people associated with him had contributed nearly $900,000 to politicians as Navatek expanded into about half a dozen states and obtained more than $40 million annually in government funding, according to ProPublica.
Former Navatek employees told ProPublica the company internally referred to its political strategy as “the method.” Kao told the FBI he believed contributions were buying access to federal funding rather than persuading lawmakers on the merits of the company’s research proposals.
Agents found that numerous corporate records were consistent with parts of Kao’s account, ProPublica reported. By the end of 2024, investigators believed there was enough evidence to pursue a broader corruption investigation that potentially involved lawmakers from both parties, though the investigation was still preliminary and it was unclear whether it would have produced criminal charges.
Anti-corruption unit dismantled
Agents Michelle Ball and Kevin Gounaud had pursued the Navatek investigation as members of CR-15, an FBI unit specializing in corruption involving elected officials.
The investigation stalled after President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025 and made sweeping personnel changes as part of his effort to politicize the FBI and Justice Department.
Ball had previously participated in the special counsel investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. She was fired in October 2025 in a letter accusing her of having “weaponized” the Justice Department, according to ProPublica. Ball has challenged her dismissal in court. Gounaud left the FBI in early 2026.
The Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, which worked with CR-15 on political corruption cases, also experienced major upheaval. Its leadership resigned in February 2025 after department officials ordered prosecutors to abandon the corruption prosecution of New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
ProPublica reported that Trump administration officials subsequently instructed remaining prosecutors to halt new corruption investigations.
FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson defended the personnel changes, telling ProPublica that agents had been removed only when they were found to have “acted unethically, undermined the mission, or engaged in weaponization of law enforcement.”
Collins denies pay-to-play allegations
Collins’ office rejected Kao’s account.
Annie Clark, the senator’s deputy chief of staff, told ProPublica that Collins “vigorously” denies allegations of bribery or pay-to-play and described Kao’s claims as “outlandish.” Clark said Collins’ campaign was not involved in discussions between Kao and the super PAC and that the senator’s office fully cooperated with investigators.
Clark said the matter had been resolved years earlier when Collins’ campaign relinquished illegal contributions Kao had made without its knowledge.
Reed also denied communicating with Collins or her staff about Kao or Navatek. But ProPublica reported that seven days after the super PAC deposited the $150,000 shell-company check, one of Reed’s subordinates contacted a Navatek lobbyist seeking Kao’s telephone number because “Senator Collins would like to call Martin to thank him.”
The FBI’s Williamson said investigators had previously examined allegations involving Collins and found nothing implicating her or her campaign. He did not answer ProPublica’s questions about the later investigation arising from Kao’s 2024 cooperation.
Kao, meanwhile, pleaded guilty in 2022 in separate federal cases involving campaign finance crimes and fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program. He was later sentenced to 87 months in federal prison. His criminal history and potential incentive to obtain leniency were significant issues for investigators evaluating his allegations.
ProPublica reported that the judge ultimately gave Kao no reduction in his sentence for his FBI cooperation.
The investigation therefore ended without resolving its central question: whether the overlap between political contributions and federal funding reflected criminal quid pro quo arrangements or lawful — if closely intertwined — campaign fundraising and congressional advocacy.
The issue now emerges publicly as Collins campaigns for another term while emphasizing her position as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the federal funding she has secured for Maine.
As of Sept. 22, the RealClearPolitics average of publicly available Collins-Jackson polling showed Jackson ahead by 1.8 percentage points, 47.2% to 45.4%.
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