Augusta, ME – The operative running the pro-Susan Collins super PAC at the center of the bribery scandal revealed by ProPublica’s bombshell report paid Susan Collins’ husband at least $1,000 in consulting fees last year, highlights the Bangor Daily News.
Collins has refused to answer questions about what this mystery payment was for, but the consulting fee from Scott Reed to Collins’ husband came at the same time that Reed’s firm was working for a series of clients who had donated to Collins or had business in front of her committee.
Misha Linnehan, spokesperson for the Maine Democratic Party, released the following statement:
“As Collins’ campaign reels from revelations of corruption, she is dodging questions about a mystery payment from the central operative in the pay-to-play scheme to Collins’s retired lobbyist husband last year, which came while the operative worked on behalf of clients that had donated to Collins or had business in front of her Committee. Mainers deserve to know what work Collins’ husband was doing for that firm, and whether there’s another pay-to-play scheme afoot.”
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According to the ProPublica reporting, Collins steered millions to a donor in contracts as they made illegal donations to her Super PAC.
That Super PAC was run by lobbyist Scott Reed.
Just last year, Reed’s current lobbying firm paid Collins’ former lobbyist husband at least $1,000 while it worked on behalf of clients who either had donated to Collins’ campaign or had business in front of her Committee.
Collins has never revealed what the payment was for.
Collins has also never revealed how much her husband was paid by the firm. Senate financial disclosure rules don’t require Collins to report the full sum that Daffron received – only that it was more than $1,000.
Reed currently runs another pro-Collins super PAC supporting her 2026 election.
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Bangor Daily News: Operative at center of ProPublica report is still a top outside money man for Susan Collins
By William Turton, Molly Redden, Avi Asher-Schapiro, and Kirsten Berg
September 23, 2026
Scott Reed, the longtime Republican strategist at the center of ProPublica’s report alleging U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and other lawmakers may have been involved in a pay-to-play scheme, remains a major force in the five-term incumbent’s inner circle.
[…] Reed led 1820 PAC, which took an illegal $150,000 donation in 2019 from an LLC set up by Martin Kao, then CEO of the Hawaii defense contractor Navatek. The donation made headlines during Collins’ 2020 race and is at the center of this week’s report.
Reed now helms Pine Tree Results PAC, which has booked more than $28 million in ads in Collins’ reelection bid against Democrat Troy Jackson, according to AdImpact data. […] Reed’s lobbying firm, Chesapeake Enterprises, paid the senator’s husband, Tom Daffron, as a consultant last year.
Collins has defended Reed’s character while denying a bribery scheme, telling reporters in Washington on Wednesday that the operative is “a person of great integrity,” according to Punchbowl News. Reporters questioned a top aide on Daffron’s work with Reed in Portland on Wednesday.
“He’s an adult professional that’s worked off and on with Scott Reed for 30-something years, maybe 40-something years,” Steve Abbott, Collins’ campaign manager and longtime chief of staff, said of Daffron. “They’re friends, and they’re still working together.”
ProPublica reported the FBI was still digging into Navatek’s donations, along with potential bribery involving Collins and other lawmakers, by late 2024 before the second Trump administration dismantled the agency’s anti-corruption teams. […]
Reed is also a longtime friend of Daffron, a former lobbyist and strategist for both Collins and her mentor, former Sen. William Cohen. He left his role as an executive at Reed’s firm, Chesapeake Enterprises, more than 20 years ago, but he received at least $1,000 in consulting fees from Reed’s firm last year, according to Collins’ required Senate income disclosures.
The Maine Democratic Party has seized on Daffron’s ties to Reed. Collins’ campaign did not answer questions about the nature of their work together. Neither Pine Tree Results PAC nor Reed responded to requests for comment.
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