Augusta, ME – A new analysis of Susan Collins’ voting record found that while the FBI was circling her for her involvement in a pay-to-play scheme, Collins voted repeatedly for Trump’s Department of Justice nominees who dismantled the agency’s public corruption unit, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
In response, Misha Linnehan, spokesperson for the Maine Democratic Party, released the following statement:
“As Susan Collins is embroiled in corruption allegations, she’s tried to distance herself from Trump’s gutting of public corruption enforcement – but the reality is that she voted for the Trump nominees who dismantled the DOJ’s public corruption unit. Collins gave Trump the votes he needed to let corruption run rampant, and then as the FBI was circling her for pay-to-play allegations, he let her off the hook.”
Read more here:
American Journal News: Collins backed DOJ officials who dismantled public corruption unit
By Jesse Valentine
October 15, 2026
Maine Sen. Susan Collins voted to confirm Department of Justice (DOJ) officials who went on to gut a unit tasked with probing public corruption.
Collins’ votes are facing new scrutiny after ProPublica revealed that she was investigated by the FBI in 2024 over an alleged pay-to-play scheme. The investigation was dropped in 2025 as the Trump administration pushed out the FBI agents working on the case.
The DOJ unit was not leading the probe into Collins, but her role in its defanging and how it connects to her own scandal could become a political liability. She is seeking a sixth term this year and polls consistently show that political corruption is a top concern for voters. […]
Collins voted to confirm Pam Bondi for attorney general in February 2025. The following month, she backed Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, for deputy attorney general. Both were unanimously backed by Republicans and overwhelmingly opposed by Democrats.
Bondi had previously called for investigations into anyone at the DOJ who targeted Trump and even claimed, without proof, that the president was a victim of a “deep state conspiracy.” Collins was seemingly unbothered by these remarks and said her vote to confirm Bondi was based on a review of “background materials” and conducting “personal in-depth interviews.”
NBC News reported in March 2025 that Bondi had overseen the reassignment of several employees at the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section. The section is responsible for probing and prosecuting crimes by government officials. This came on the heels of several Public Integrity Section members resigning in protest over the DOJ’s move to drop a prosecution of then-New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
David Laufman, a DOJ official who worked in both Republican and Democratic administrations, said Bondi’s reassignments made it clear that the White House wanted government corruption handled by political appointees, not career prosecutors.
“[It raises] serious questions about whether future investigations and prosecutions will be motivated by improper partisan considerations,” Laufman said.
Two months later, the FBI disbanded the public-corruption squad whose agents had investigated Collins.
Collins later failed to sign a letter calling for a congressional investigation into the hollowing out of public corruption units. It was signed by other senators from New England, including Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, and Vermont Sen. Peter Welch.
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