Portland, ME – Today in Portland, one day after a bombshell report from ProPublica revealed that the FBI was circling Susan Collins for engaging in a pay-to-play scheme, Maine Democrats held a press conference outside of her office to condemn her corruption.

Watch the full press conference here.

“We sent Senator Susan Collins to Washington to fight for us,” said Devon Murphy Anderson, Executive Director of the Maine Democratic Party. “Instead, it appears that she has sold us out yet again, and gotten bailed out of trouble by the President of the United States. It is not the first time that she has betrayed us. However, this November, we have the opportunity to ensure that it is one of the last.”

“Collins likes to tout how her perch as chair of Appropriations has allowed her to deliver for Maine. Yet these revelations call that claim into serious question,” said Cathy Breen, former Senate Chair of the Maine Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee. “If she was willing to steer millions of dollars to a contractor in exchange for a campaign donation once, what is to stop her from doing that again? Mainers deserve a senator who will fight for us. This report makes clear that that is not Susan Collins.”

“As the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, she had the power to push back on this president — a president who has unquestionably made our lives, and particularly the lives of the most vulnerable in this country, measurably worse,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, former Director of the Maine CDC. “But at every turn, she declined to do so. Instead, she caved to him again and again. And this week’s revelations raise questions about why. What we deserve is a senator who will stand up to the wealthy and stand up to the powerful — not one who stands to gain as well as assist a president who has done nothing but trade his office for personal gain.”

“There’s a lot that’s new in the ProPublica piece this week — shocking revelations that we are learning for the first time,” said Senator Jill Duson (D-Cumberland). “But the fact that Susan Collins is beholden to wealthy donors is not one of those. It’s not even the first time that she appears to have taken a vote or secured an appropriation that helped a donor.”

Read the full investigation here and highlights below:

Propublica: “Sen. Susan Collins helped steer millions in federal defense contracts to Navatek, whose CEO illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her campaign.

The FBI sought to launch a probe and was eyeing Collins and other lawmakers.

Then Trump gutted the unit in charge.”