Susan Collins is fighting for her political life. Once again, she’s one of the Democrats’ top targets. I thought we had Runaround Sue on the ropes in 2020 but she won reelection in what was then the most expensive race in Maine history. That record will be shattered this cycle.
Collins has used her role as one of the senate’s appropriators to benefit her state and herself. According to a blockbuster story by PROPUBLICA, Runaround Sue had a little help from her friends in 2020:
“Scott Reed, head of the Collins super PAC, was on a mission to close that gap. Reed was meeting that day with three executives from a Hawaiian defense contractor, Navatek. A year earlier, Collins had helped their company land a multimillion-dollar Navy research contract in Maine. Now, seated at a coffee shop not far from the U.S. Capitol, Reed asked them for a $500,000 donation.
Government contractors are banned from making political contributions. More consequentially, for the company to offer donations to Collins in exchange for an official action, or for Collins to accept, would constitute criminal bribery.
But the company did have such a proposal: Navatek was hungry for more government contracts in Maine. If they cut a big check, the CEO told Reed, Navatek wanted Collins to guarantee tens of millions of dollars in additional federal funding.
To skirt campaign finance laws and conceal the source of the funds, Navatek planned to funnel the donation through a shell company. The CEO wanted assurance that Collins would know where the money came from. Reed confirmed that she would, the executive said — and that Navatek would get its government contracts.”
Navatek’s CEO Martin Kao was convicted on corruption charges. He flipped on Runaround Sue and told the FBI what he’d done and what he knew. The word of a convicted felon must be corroborated, so the FBI opened an investigation into the senior senator from Maine.
After the 2024 election, the MAGA cavalry rode to Runaround Sue’s rescue:
“Then Trump returned to the White House. Consumed by a campaign of vengeance, he stacked the Department of Justice with his personal lawyers and demanded a purge of anyone who had ever investigated him.
The specialized FBI and DOJ teams handling public corruption investigations, some of which were involved in Trump-related cases, were eviscerated. One of the agents who had taken Kao’s confession was pushed out as retribution for her role in investigating Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Dozens of agents and prosecutors quit amid the department’s destruction, including the career attorney assigned to Kao’s case.”
Can’t have the DOJ investigating public corruption during the Trump family crime spree, can we?
Corruption is one of the central issues of the mid-terms. Trump 1.0 corruption was amorphous involving hotel bookings and such. Trump 2.0 corruption is tangible involving government contracts and such. Additionally, the economy sucks, so voters resent Team MAGA prospering while they’re on a:
Mainers hate corruption. It’s part of the state’s flinty and thrifty Yankee self-image. Navatek-style corruption is anathema to Mainers. This is a story that’s likely to stick to Runaround Sue whose team has denied the PROPUBLICA report. Her opponent, Troy Jackson, is a fifth generation logger. He’s sharpening his axe, ready to chop down Collins’ chance for a sixth term.
TIMBER.
It’s time for Susan Collins to go. She claims to be an independent voice for Maine when she’s in Trump’s pocket. His back pocket, the one he sits on. Hopefully, this report will help crush her candidacy. Is she “concerned” now?
The last word goes to Dion:
Sue may give you the runaround but Harold never will:
