By Steve Neavling
The FBI is investigating whether a defense company made illegal campaign contributions to the 2020 reelection campaign of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican.
An unsealed search warrant reveals the FBI is focused on $150,000 in donations from Navatek, a Hawaii defense contractor that has been renamed Martin Defense Group, Axios first reported.
With the help of Collins, Navatek received an $8 million Navy contract before a bulk of the donations poured in.
According to a court affidavit, Former Navatek CEO Martin Kao used a shell company to donate $150,000 and reimburse family members for smaller contributions.
Kao was indicted last year on charges of bilking the federal government out of millions of dollars in coronavirus relief aid intended for small businesses.
“The Collins for Senator Campaign had absolutely no knowledge of anything alleged in the warrant,” Collins spokesperson Annie Clark told Axios.
