A new investigation into Senator Susan Collins’ first quarter FEC reports has uncovered that on the same day that Collins said she would “pause” campaign activities to focus on the coronavirus crisis, she chartered a private jet to attend a hedge fund fundraiser in Greenwich, Connecticut.

 

Despite Collins’ repeated claims to have paused her campaign, she has continued to fundraise with special interests and her campaign team has gone on the attack against one of her Democratic opponents. Meanwhile, a super-PAC backed by corporate interests and Wall Street billionaires is coming to Collins’ aid with a seven-figure ad buy that starts today.

 

“Senator Collins has been using her supposedly ‘paused’ campaign as an excuse to dodge tough questions for months, even though she seems to have used that time to attend swanky fundraisers and attack one of her Democratic opponents,” said Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Lisa Roberts. “If she has time to rent a private jet to rub elbows with hedge fund managers in Connecticut, then she has time to be accountable to Mainers.”

 

Maine’s US Senate primary will be held on July 14th. You can read about all three Democratic candidates here.

 

Beacon: On the day Collins ‘suspended’ her campaign she rented a jet, held hedge fund fundraiser

 

By Dan Neuman

May 12, 2020

 

Key Points:

 

  • On March 17, the same day that Senator Susan Collins said she would “pause” her re-election campaign to focus attention on the federal government’s COVID-19 pandemic response, it appears that Maine’s senior senator chartered a private jet to raise $23,650 from hedge-fund managers and investment bankers at a fundraiser in Greenwich, Connecticut.

 

  • Federal Election Commission filings show that Collins’ campaign paid $5,662.67 to Portland-based private plane company Mac Air Group on March 17. 

 

  • Finance reports also show that her campaign paid Thomas Foley, Ambassador to Ireland under former President George W. Bush, $3,269 for “catering for event” that same day.

 

  • Foley’s home is in Greenwich, the largest town on Connecticut’s Gold Coast and home to many hedge funds and private equity firms. 

 

  • The FEC’s first quarter report released in April shows Collins raised $23,650 on March 17 from Greenwich residents, including $5,600 from Connecticut Republican state Sen. L. Scott Frantz, who owns venture capital firm Haebler Capital, and his wife, Allison; $6,100 from former Enron trader and Goldman Sachs hedge-fund manager and current Republican state Rep. Harry Arora and his wife, Nisha; and $5,600 from Goldman Sachs managing director Taraan Bakker and his wife, Jennifer.

 

  • Collins raised more from Greenwich, Connecticut residents on March 17 than she raised from any other state.

 

  • On that same day, as the U.S. Senate was in the middle of negotiations over the second coronavirus package, Collins announced that because of the pandemic she would “pause” her campaign.

 

  • “Our nation’s leaders must be focused on confronting the problems we face, not on politics,” Collins wrote on Twitter on March 17. “I will pause most campaign activities to focus on ensuring state/local governments and medical providers have the federal support they need to confront the virus.” The announcement was also sent in an email to supporters. 

 

  • In an online forum hosted by The Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs at Colby College on April 23, Collins deflected a question about whether she would vote for President Donald Trump in the general election in November saying she didn’t want to focus on “partisan politics” in the middle of a crisis”

 

  • “Right now, I’m focused on the pandemic,” Collins said during the forum. “If ever there were a time that we should put partisan politics aside, now is the time. You may have noticed that on television, I’ve run a series of essentially public service announcements telling people where they can get help, thanking our frontline workers.”

 

  • The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed into law ten days later, included several tax changes that greatly benefited millionaires and large corporations.

 

  • Many hedge fund managers originally believed that they would be able to take advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program, a part of the CARES Act that Collins had a hand in writing. When additional funding was passed for the program in late April, the SBA released new guidance stating that hedge funds and other investment firms would not be eligible.

 

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